Who Is Cowtown Pattie?

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I was Lillie Langtry in another life, and might have a crush on Calamity Jane.

Saturday, June 12, 2004

The Regency Bridge



Regency's 1939 bridge is one of eight remaining suspension bridges in Texas and has been used in commercials and as a backdrop for television programs. It was rededicated March 1, 1999.

The original 1903 bridge fell in 1924 and its replacement was swept away in a flood in 1938. Construction of the bridge was from April to October of 1939.

Mills and San Saba Counties both paid for construction of the bridge which was built with local labor under supervision of the Austin Bridge Company of Dallas. During WWII, the bridge was visited by troops stationed at nearby Camp Brady and locals used the bridge as a meeting place and held dances there.

In 1939, my mom was 8 years old. She remembers the big flood on the Colorado River. Her dad was part of a crew working to try to keep the bridge from washing away. She and her mother watched from the embankment; my grandmother, Ava, scared out of her wits that Willis (my grandfather) would drown. He didn't, but my mom says the noise of the rushing water and the creak of the old bridge was frightening. Both of my grandparents were from the San Saba area: Locker and Hall, Texas. I have several old family photos taken from various times on the Regency Bridge. This previous post is a photo of my Uncle Vernon Bartlett, younger brother to my grandfather, on the bridge. Another very cherished one is of my grandparents on their wedding day. If you look closely in the background, you can see the Colorado River running behind them. This is the bridge that washed away in 1938. Obviously, this locale provided an excellent backdrop for pictures!



Ava and Willis"


A couple of years ago, my youngest daughter and I traveled the backroads to Locker, Richland Springs, Rochelle, Placid and San Saba. We drove across the "new" bridge and the Colorado River. The river and the countryside holds many memories of my family, and fortunately, change has come slowly to this part of the state.

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