Toll Bridge over Big River, c. 1881. (Gift of Margaret Kelley Campbell)
An elevated view of the first bridge over Big River taken by Ira C. Perry, who worked in Mendocino from about 1880 to 1895.
The bridge was built by the Big River Bridge Company, composed of Spencer W. Hill, a Mendocino rancher; Isaac P. Smith, a trader living in Little Lake Township; and Peter S. Palmstream, the man who operated the ferry this bridge would replace. The company held the franchise to build the bridge and then collect tolls from 1861 to 1878, when it became a free bridge. In 1882, the original bridge was replaced by a new one using Howe trusses.
The third Mendocino Lumber Company Mill is visible on the flat in the background. Standing next to the mill’s boilers is the “million-brick” chimney, which came down in the 1906 earthquake. Workers’ dwellings line the road to the mill. The flat is strewn with cut tree trunks, deposited there by the river during high water.
Today! Two Walking Tours of Mendocino: Historic District Tour @ 11AM and Murder, She Wrote Tour at 11:30AM. $25