100th anniversary of Mystic Drawbridge

Mystic is celebrating a huge milestone this week… the 100th anniversary of the Mystic Drawbridge! The bascule bridge is the oldest operating in the United States. Even if you haven’t been to Mystic, you will recognize the bridge on many logos, tourism ads, clothing and much more! The bridge is located in the downtown, it’s hard to miss! The bascule bridge is a movable bridge with counter weights that lifts the bridge. During the summers, it goes up every hour at the 40 mark. (8:40, 9:40, etc) from 8am-8pm. The best viewing spot is obviously in the Mystic River Park nearby.

Mystic Chamber is hosting several events to honor the 100th anniversary of the bridge. The fireworks show will be occurring in October. They also have a visitor’s center at the foot of the bridge for this summer, showcasing the history and artwork of the Mystic Drawbridge. Signature bridge souvenirs are also sold here, as well in many of Downtown shops.

Also at Groton Public Library, The Mystic River Historical Society set up a small exhibit with the history of the Mystic Drawbridge. I found it very interesting when I went there back in May. Several photos shows the drawbridge going back to the 1800’s. It is the 100th anniversary of when the bridge became moveable, opening the bridge for the first time on July 19, 1922. There also is a section about what the drawbridge was like the day ‘Mystic Pizza’ was filmed (the only scene filmed in Mystic). The exhibit will be there until October 31st, free of charge and open during library hours.

It’s amazing how many of my memories includes this landmark. I visited Mystic in the Summer of 2010 before moving here later that year. I remember standing on the drawbridge looking toward Mystic Seaport, thought about how much I fell in love with the town and could see myself living in this coastal town. Two months later, my husband got a job a town over! It was meant to be! Few years later, we had our engagement photo session on the drawbridge. We had our first family photo with our Dalmatian by the bridge. Many summers were spent here with my family visiting from Upstate NY. Too many fond memories to list them all!

Watching the bridge go up and down will never get old. I enjoy that 10-20 minutes of time standing still, looking around at the scenery on the river and watching the visitors in awe of the bridge (also laugh at those who aren’t familiar with the bridge’s horn). I still enjoy photographing the bridge through all seasons and at different times of the day. I admire other people’s photographs of the bridge - it’s amazing how many different photos we can get of this landmark!

The bridge isn’t the only thing to see in Mystic. Within walking distance of the bridge, in Downtown there are many shops, plethora of restaurants, art museum and galleries, diverse bookstore, ice cream shops and many more. I have plenty recommendations if you ever need some, check out the MYSTIC tab here!

Here’s to another 100 years of this beautiful drawbridge in Mystic!