Broadway Bridge (Greenville, Ohio)

As late as 1857, Greenville was restricted to the southeastern side of Greenville Creek; only about four or five houses were located in what has since become the northern part of the city. However, a Greenville Creek bridge existed by this time, and around it existed a smattering of industries. Like today, Broadway was an important thoroughfare, with the old courthouse occupying a place on the public square, and a dense commercial district lining both sides of the street for several blocks to the south of the square.[2]^: 515 The current courthouse was constructed in 1874,[2]^: 516 and Broadway was paved with brick in 1900 as numerous commercial buildings continued to rise along its sides.[2]^: 517 The location of the present bridge is close to the Treaty of Greenville signing grounds; construction by the bridge in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries revealed burials of officers from the Legion of the United States.[2]^: 539

Upstream side of the bridge, pictured circa 1920

Constructed in 1909, the Broadway Bridge is a three-hinged arch bridge built of concrete.[1] A single span crosses the entire stream, and a balustrade prevents vehicles and pedestrians from falling over the side into the stream.[3] The bridge's designer, A.W. Zesiger, constructed multiple three-hinged arch concrete bridges; one that spanned a creek at Brookside Park in Cleveland was once considered the world's flattest semi-elliptical arch. These two bridges were constructed in a similar manner, although the slightly flatter Cleveland bridge was lighter and smaller than the Greenville bridge, whose location required it to carry heavier loads than a bridge placed in a park.[4] Not long after completing the bridge in Greenville, Zesiger became known for a substantially larger structure: as the Cuyahoga County Bridge Engineer, he helped to supervise the construction of the concrete-and-steel Detroit-Superior High Level Bridge,[5] which was completed in 1917.[1]

In 1996, the Broadway Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying both because of its place in local history and because it remained a well-preserved example of early twentieth-century engineering. It is one of twelve National Register-listed locations in Greenville; among the others are the courthouse and the business district on Broadway, which has been named a historic district.[1] Today, two state highways — State Routes 49 and 571 — cross Greenville Creek on the bridge.[6]