The Science of Happiness; It Was The Dime Bridge Before It Cost A Nickel; Education and Remembrance; Producing More Produce; “Seen, Remembered and Appreciated.”
RVA 5x5 - ALT 5 - May 29, 2024
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This week check out our five stories on:
A look at the history of the Nickel Bridge — which actually started out with a toll that cost a dime.
The new exhibit about the science of happiness at the Science Museum using “plastication” will show you how happiness affects the body in more ways than you might think.
A new exhibit opening next week at the Virginia War Memorial where you can hear the voices and stories of Virginia veterans who were in Normandy on D-Day, which took place 80 years ago next week…
A nice quote about the restoration efforts and importance of preserving and honoring black history at the Woodland Cemetery.
Goochland County is raining leafy greens as a local company that already delivers greens all over the mid-Atlantic is preparing for a massive expansion.
THE ALT 5
ALT #1 — RVA HISTORY: It Was The Dime Bridge Before It Cost A Nickel
The post last week on the history (and future) of the Mayo Bridge was a big hit; so this week we will look at the Boulevard Bridge (aka the Nickel Bridge) after reading an article in the Times-Dispatch that was followed by a photo collage of old photos from the bridge’s history.
The photo array dates back to an article the paper ran in 2020 but the photos are so vintage and the story of the bridge is almost as endearing as the Mayo’s long history.
At the time, there was no bridge west of Boulevard until you got to the old Westham Bridge (just west of the current Huguenot Bridge, originally built in 1949) and east of Boulevard, the Lee Bridge would not be built until 1934 (also as a toll bridge).
The Boulevard Bridge was built in 1925 and cost $275,000 to build (about $4.9 million in today's money) but, contrary to local lore, the “Nickel Bridge” actually should have been named the “Dime Bridge.”
According to a 2012 article in Richmond Magazine by local historian extraordinaire Harry Kollatz, the initial bridge toll was not a nickel but a dime (or about $1.79 in today’s money); the toll was only five cents for walkers and cyclists. One-horse and two-horse vehicles cost 25 cents and four-horse vehicles cost 50 cents each way.
Photo: Times-Dispatch
City Council had the option to buy the bridge within five years at cost but passed on the option. Between 1939 and 1959, some members of Council pushed five different times to purchase the structure that was earning a 82% rate of return on the depreciated original cost, but every attempt was shot down (insert your own joke here).
An advertisement in the December 31, 1924 edition of the Times-Dispatch offered a badge you could purchase for your car for $10 ($179 in today’s money) that allowed unlimited crossings for all of 1925 and also said 10 year passes would be given to Westover Hills residents. New homes in that area were going for $10,000 to $14,500 (about $179,000 to $259,000 in today’s money).
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