Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Commerce: governor, where is)

[catriona]

Originally Posted by wCat

I've been racking my brain to remember where a bridge was that was just South of downtown. It might have been on S. Presa....I just remember it being VERY narrow and VERY old. This was back in the 70's....and I'm sure it's long gone. Does anyone remember that bridge? It was so narrow that it was very unnerving driving on it with two way traffic. Or maybe it was even one-way?
Sorry....I was in high school and not familiar with driving around downtown at that time. It would be even more awesome to see a picture of it....but I suppose I'd need to know the name first!

Was it the Nolan St bridge? The one you can see looking east from IH 37?

[BudB]

The old Hays Street Bridge is still there but closed to all traffic tho there are plans for it to be restored and made available to pedestrians. Go here for a nice look at the bridge's history and as it looks today.(Hays Street Bridge Downtown San Antonio Texas.) It had a nearby relative up on New Braunfels Street that also crossed over the Southern Pacific East Yards. That bridge is long gone but can be seen in a Jackie Chan film titled The Big Brawl which was filmed in San Antonio about 1980. See it here; (New Braunfels Street Bridge San Antonio Texas.)

[wCat]

Originally Posted by BudB

The old Hays Street Bridge is still there but closed to all traffic tho there are plans for it to be restored and made available to pedestrians. Go here for a nice look at the bridge's history and as it looks today.(Hays Street Bridge Downtown San Antonio Texas.) It had a nearby relative up on New Braunfels Street that also crossed over the Southern Pacific East Yards. That bridge is long gone but can be seen in a Jackie Chan film titled The Big Brawl which was filmed in San Antonio about 1980. See it here; (New Braunfels Street Bridge San Antonio Texas.)

Bud...thanks for those web site links on the bridges! Great pictures. I'm glad they're going to save the Hays St bridge....but I kind of like it as is. I sort of tells a story. I'm not really big on restoring things to look pristine and new. I hope they restore the structural integrity and safety while not making it too "pretty". Love the history on the other bridge.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by catriona

Was it the Nolan St bridge? The one you can see looking east from IH 37?

Cat....is there an intersection closeby? I couldn't find a bridge on Nolan st on the East side of I37. Nolan is two blocks from Hays St. Could you be thinking of that bridge too?

[jg1208]

W Cat ,I grew up on the S.E. side and I think I know which bridge you are referring to. Traveling
south of Military Dr. on Goliad Rd. maybe 2 miles ,Goliad turns into Old Corpus Christi Rd. There used
to be an old rickety, wooden one lane bridge that crossed the Salado Creek and then around the corner was a beer joint- dance hall called the Log Cabin. It was replaced with a modern two lane concrete bridge I want to say about 1980-1982 somewhere in that time frame. Do you remember the
bridge being painted a dark or rusty red ?

[wCat]

Originally Posted by jg1208

W Cat ,I grew up on the S.E. side and I think I know which bridge you are referring to. Traveling
south of Military Dr. on Goliad Rd. maybe 2 miles ,Goliad turns into Old Corpus Christi Rd. There used
to be an old rickety, wooden one lane bridge that crossed the Salado Creek and then around the corner was a beer joint- dance hall called the Log Cabin. It was replaced with a modern two lane concrete bridge I want to say about 1980-1982 somewhere in that time frame. Do you remember the
bridge being painted a dark or rusty red ?

Hi JG! The bridge sure sounds right, but the area seems to far from town. I can't think of driving outside the loop when I was that young. I can't even remember what the occasion was.....some school function or something.
I'll keep digging to see if I can find more dots to connect.

[catriona]

Originally Posted by wCat

Cat....is there an intersection closeby? I couldn't find a bridge on Nolan st on the East side of I37. Nolan is two blocks from Hays St. Could you be thinking of that bridge too?

Checked the texasscapes link, it's the Hays St bridge I was thinking of.
I don't remember any narrow bridges off of S. Presa. When we went down town, we always went via N. New Braunfels to Nolan St. That's probably why I thought it was the Nolan St. bridge.

[wCat]

This is a long shot....but was anyone familiar with downtown after Hemisfair? The Navarro Street Bridge just South of Market seems like a more familiar location. But everything around that area is way too new. How old is the CPS building? And was that area sort of run down and a little creepy in the early 70's? This is going to drive me crazy.

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by wCat

This is a long shot....but was anyone familiar with downtown after Hemisfair? The Navarro Street Bridge just South of Market seems like a more familiar location. But everything around that area is way too new. How old is the CPS building? And was that area sort of run down and a little creepy in the early 70's? This is going to drive me crazy.

Probably barking up the wrong tree there Cat! Tom Benson Chevrolet and Hermann Son's Lodge and the Mexican Consulate I guess all right there! CPS, not sure but they've been there quite a while! That street just east of St. Mary's that parallels it north of Durango had a quaint little bridge. Probably still there. Seems like it was pretty narrow but not a one laner don't think! When it comes to downtown I picture small areas at a time. Where the Hertzberg Circus Collection was. Street next to it running north and south has that relatively small bridge!

[SATX56]

Cat, you would think the route to go would have involved Roosevelt! Weather it was Lackland,Kelly, or Brooks Field 70's era from Military Drive. Best route Military to Roosevelt north to St. Mary's straight on through. Through downtown to Jones or San Pedro or up Broadway off of Jones!