The name Seven Bridges Road is the source of some confusion. As you drive through the parkway, starting from Superior Street, and count the bridges you cross, you'll come up with a total of eight.

There's a solution to this mystery, however. Upon closer inspection you'll see that the bridge nearest Superior Street, the first one you encounter at the north end of Occidental Boulevard, is a poor facsimile of the original nine.

The bridge is similar in that it is a stone-arch type with rubble stone masonry, but it displays none of the finer details such as piers, copings, or cap rocks that set the other nine apart. It was built in 1928, replacing an earlier rustic bridge which connected Occidental and Oriental Boulevards, the two carriage paths which ran on either side of Lester Park before the turn of the century.

Questions or comments to: mark@amitycreek.com