Canton Historical Society


A History of The Viaduct

It was one of the wonders of its day and is still referred to in engineering schools as a fine example of engineering skill. The first of its kind, it was pure guess-work in planning what load it would carry in years to come, and it has been subjected to tests undreamed of when begun in 1834.

The Chief Engineer was William Gibbs McNeill, a graduate of West Point and later Major General in Rhode Island during Dorr's Rebellion. Major General George Washington Whistler, father of the famous artist, was assistant and consulting engineer. It is said that he wanted his son to become an engineer, but the boy chose otherwise.

The Viaduct bridges the east branch of the Neponset River, on old maps called the Canton River, and is built on a wide curve crossing the valley. We read that the building of this bridge impeded the progress of Norwood for many years, as it was first intended to have the main line of the Boston & Providence, R. R. pass through South Dedham, now Norwood, but through the influence of Joseph Warren Revere, son of Paul the present site was chosen.

The construction took about two years, starting at both ends, the bridge being the last link. When the tracks came finally to the river, train service started and passengers were transferred by coaches from a temporary station called Canton (about where the freight sheds now stand at Canton Jct.) to the embankment near the Stone Factory.

A faithful old horse, Charlie, who hauled a small flat car back to the quarry in Sharon, had the honor of the first ride across the bridge when it was finished, being pushed across on his flat car by the workmen. The bridge was formally opened in 1835 but not finished until the next year.

The rough stone came from a quarry in Canton near the Sharon and Stoughton line, near Cobb's Corner, but the face stone was quarried in Sharon on the westerly side of Rattlesnake Hill. The stone cutters were all Scottish, the other workmen were Irish. In one account, the Scots drank barley beer, while the Irish drank their rye, and the effects of the two beverages called out the militia on occasions to settle disputes as to which nation could fight the best.

The Scottish workmen were Free Masons and each face stone bears the identification mark of the one who cut it. They vary in size and shape according to the taste and ability of the workman. Some are on the outside while others are hidden.

Originally a one-track line, in 1860 the whole line was double-tracked and the outer rail came almost if not directly over the side walls. It was feared that the vibration would loosen the mortar joints but that has not yet occurred; however, after the inspection of 1910, reinforcements of concrete were set in the recessed arches. Inspections are made at regular intervals, removing one of the large stones at the bottom; there is a platform inside and with a light every joint is searched for defects. Most of the bridge is hollow, only the side walls and piers and upper masonry are solid. It is puzzling to those who have studied it, as the side walls do not appear to be structurally tied to the piers and are only held by the mortar between them.

A stone bearing the names of the railroad officials was originally set at the western end, but when the two tracks were put in, this stone was dumped off with others and found later broken into pieces; one was never located which bore the names of two directors. Those found were cemented together and set up at one end of the viaduct. The inscription reads: "This viaduct erected by the B. & P. R. R., T. B. Wales, Pres.: Directors, - J.W. Revere, C.H. Russell, J. P. Loring, C. Potter, J.G. King" and parts of two other names.

The Old Stone Factory (now Emerson and Cuming) nearby is even older, being built in 1824. The iron work for the bridge was done mostly by Daniel Fuller who had a shop just below the factory, and he would tell the boys when they watched him shoe horses that Paul Revere used to sit on a certain stool and watch when Fuller shod his horse. The Revere Copper Works founded by Paul Revere (now the Plymouth Rubber Co.) were just across a branch of the river from the bridge.

Directly under the main arch where Neponset Street passes through stood a small house occupied before the Revolution by Benjamin Everendon, a powder maker, who owned much of the land thereabouts.

As one comes from Norwood, the bridge does form a lovely picture with its many arches through which flow the waters of the branch, thence falling over the dam below, and from the east the picture is also impressive.
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