The history of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts, By a committee of the Dorchester antiquarian and historical society ...

HISTORY OF DORCHESTER. 595
hear no more complaint about bridges or ferry
over Neponset River for many years.
This bridge was located just below the present
bridge, and ran more obliquely across the riverthe large rock just below the present one serving
as one of the piers, and the south end resting upon
what is now the small island between the bridge and
the mill below. A bridge continued to occupy this
position for about one hundred years, when, in 1765,
the towns of Dorchester and Milton built a new
bridge where the present one now stands. The
town of Milton built the southerly sluice and covered it with stone; the town of Dorchester built
the two northerly ones, and covered them with
stone; the two large ones, with the wooden bridge,
were built at the joint expense of the two towns.
Ia 1798, the patriotic citizens in the vicinity of
this bridge erected an arch, at the dividing line of
the towns, over the bridge, to commemorate the ratification of Jay's Treaty, on which was inscribed,
in letters of gold, "We unite in defence of our
country and its laws-1798." This arch was blown
down in the gale of 1815.
The bridge remained substantially the same until
the year 1847, when the two towns caused two stone
arches to take the place of the old wooden bridge,
raising the bridge four and a half feet in the centre,
widening out the travel way, and constructing sidewalks on either side. Fearful of disturbing the
rights of the several mill owners interested in the
water near the bridge, the committees of the towns
did not think it advisable to build the bridge so wide