Deer Isle Sedgwick Bridge

If you want to get to (or from) Deer Isle you will likely cross our bridge, officially named the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge. Our bridge was dedicated on June 19, 1939, by Gov. Lewis Barrows. The two Island school bands (Deer Isle and Stonington) then marched across the bridge; this writer was a 13-year-old trumpet player in the Stonington band. There was a lot of fanfare to be had, but all of the Islanders knew that much of the credit for getting this bridge built went to Frank McGuire and Ray Small.  They were both members of the local Lions Club (of which my father Harold Small was a member). The Lions were a driving force behind this successful effort to get a bridge built. 

This in no way minimizes the efforts put forth by many of the other Islanders. Unless you were around in those days, it is difficult to realize how important it was to have this bridge. The only obvious drawback to the bridge was that we didn't have a single skunk on the Island until the bridge was built. Apparently skunks don't swim! For about 22 years we paid a toll to cross the bridge, but it was a small price to pay when you consider the alternative. Crossing by car ferry was inconvenient, if not dangerous.  

For more information on the transformation from ferry to bridge, buy Steel over Eggemoggin, available at the Penobscot Bay Press office, home of our weekly newspaper The Island Ad-Vantages, Post Office Box 36, Main Street, Stonington, ME 04681 (http://www.islandadvantages.com).  This informative pamphlet has a number of photos depicting the ferry service and the bridge during construction, as well as the story of how it all came about. All in all, a good purchase for someone seeking an important piece of island history.