Delhi Bridge
The town of Delhi was founded in 1836 when Jacob Doremus platted a new town he called Michigan Village. The town was based around his small sawmill, which was perched on a harsh bend in the Huron River. Doremus also built a handmade dam, and the first millrace was constructed shortly after.
Michigan Village would see more mills, a church, a train station, a grocery store, and a school as more people moved to the town. Doremus would pass away in 1847, leaving his stake in the town to his partner, Norman Goodale. The town had been renamed Delhi the previous year, so when Goodale built a new flour mill, he named it the Delhi Mill.
As time went on, nearby industrial centers overtook the market and put mills in Delhi out of business. By the late 1800s, many of the mills were bleeding money, and the last operating mill closed just after the turn of the century.
Since 1851, there was a wooden bridge to cross the mighty Huron River. Between 1888 and 1890, a new bridge was constructed, which is the same one that stands today.
It was constructed by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, one of six similar bridges that once crossed the Huron River. The Maple Road Bridge is still in use, and the Bell Road Bridge was removed to be restored, but the process never happened.
On June 7th, 1917, a tornado ripped through the shrinking town of Delhi. It destroyed everything in its path, from the school to the wrought iron bridge. The bridge was bent, twisted, and sitting on the floor of the Huron River. In 1918, the bridge was repaired and replaced, offering a way to cross the river once more. It is one of the few remaining structures from before the tornado.
Henry Ford purchased a large plot of land surrounding the bridge and river in the 1940s with unknown intent. The property was sold to the Huron Clinton Metropolitan Authority after his death in 1947.
Between then and 2005, not much happened at the Delhi Bridge. Small bits and pieces of maintenance were done, but nothing that could be seen as an overhaul was planned until the bridge closed to vehicular traffic in 2005 after it was deemed unsafe.
Between then and 2009, the East Delhi Bridge Conservancy worked to repair and reopen the bridge. It retained its one-lane design, and the bridge’s pratt through truss plan remains intact. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 and is a State of Michigan Historic Site.
The bridge has a small sitting area with a marker but, unfortunately, does not have a parking area. Delhi Metropark is directly adjacent to the bridge, so you can park there and walk to the bridge to view it if you have a Metropass or are willing to pay for a day pass. We parked a half-mile down the street and didn’t have any issues.
When we visited, the Huron River was extremely high as it was spring, and it had rained a lot the week before. We sat on the river’s edge and enjoyed the view of the Delhi Bridge, the make-shift rapids that overtook the river and watched a fly-fisherman bring in a nicely sized smallmouth bass.
If you have the opportunity to drive over the bridge, I highly recommend it. If you’ve got some extra time, it’s worth parking the car and exploring the area further. I was able to walk underneath the bridge, which was quite a unique view. I could sit, as Michiganders have done for nearly a century and a half, enjoying the view of the river speeding under the bridge for hours. Next time, I just might.
