Cleveland’s only suspension bridge was built by the Van Sweringen brothers in 1931. It is a 680 feet long pedestrian footbridge, spanning a ravine known as Kingsbury Run, and connecting two ends of Sidaway Avenue – one in the Polish-American neighborhood of Slavic Village, and the other in Garden Valley, an African-American neighborhood.
The bridge was vandalized in July 1966, during racial tensions between the two neighborhoods. The deck was set on fire, and the bridge has never been repaired.
It is interesting to see pictures and learn about different places. My favorite subjects for reading and writing are historical non-fiction and fiction…..
Thanks for stopping by and for leaving your comment, Diane. I hope you will come back often. If you register you can receive an email when new posts are uploaded.
Best,
Lauren
This was very interesting. It would be so nice if it could be restored and used again. Love the pictures.
Good to see you, Sheri. There is nothing that I would love more than to walk across that bridge. Thought was given to moving it to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, but that never happened. Thanks for stopping by!
Best,
Lauren
They should renovate that bridge. The neighborhood on the south side of it is now more integrated….so racial tension would be lessened. Also, the bridge in it’s current state is an unattractive eyesore, and very dangerous. It is scary just to see it like this. When my grandmother was alive, she told me stories of how it was once used to go from one side to the other. She said she and her siblings used to walk over to Dan Dee’s to see if they could get some free chips….and often they did.
Thank you for sharing your memories. I agree with you that the bridge should be renovated. So much has been done to renovate Garden Valley, and I worry that someone will start a move to demolish the bridge. What we need is that same energy to begin a fund-raising campaign to save the bridge and reunite the two great neighborhoods. 50 years ago I first fell in love with the bridge, but never crossed it. I would love to have that opportunity.