Save Keeseville’s Historic Bridges

11/11/2025

More progress thanks to our Town Supervisors Tim Bresett and Clayton Barber.

KEESEVILLE | Recently, Essex County authorized the Community Resources Department to apply for a Smart Growth Grant to fund a feasibility study for the Upper Bridge, which has been closed for 18 years.

10/23/2025

There is a very talented local artist that has created a calendar for our historic bridges. We wish her well. We also want to update everyone that our town supervisors are working hard on acquiring grants for our bridges and we are NOT accepting donations at this time. Thanks, and good luck on the calendars. The artist mentions All processed from the calendar will be donated to PBS!

07/10/2025

Maybe we should give this a shot? 😂

06/20/2025

We just had a very productive meeting with our local liaison to the Governor's office this morning. She was able to provide some great information on resources and organizations to try for funding to save our bridges. Thanks to Clayton Barber and Tim Bresett for making this happen! They are going to take the lead on making the connections needed.

06/17/2025

If anyone wants a refresher on any of the historic bridges in Keeseville, here is the website:

Preserving Bridges in Upstate NY

06/16/2025

You all are awesome! Thank you to the community members that already went to the bridge and weedwhacked both sides! After you left I went down with a leaf blower and cleaned up a bit! It’s alreadyy starting to look amazinging again! In less than two hours from me asking someone took the initiative! Thank You!!

Here is what is left to be done!

1) Trim branches back away from the bridge
2) clean up the approaches, remove leaves
3) Remove build up of accumulated dirt and debris from the on ramps to the bridge.
4) Improve appearance of the large rocks approaching the bridge by trimming back the tall grass.

06/16/2025

Hello all, it has been a while since I have posted. Progress continues behind the scenes for the Upper Bridge in Keeseville. We have a few potential leads in the works and a few meetings have been had about potential funding. Here is what we need…

We are asking for a handful of volunteers to clean up the entrance way to the upper bridge on both sides of the river. Weeds, branches and grass have grown up on both sides since the last time we cleaned it up. We want to make the portals look great for an upcoming meeting to show it off, and discuss the bridge.

Please send a message on if and when you would like to volunteer to clean it up. The better it looks, the better our chances! Any help would greatly be appreciated!

Please remember that the bridge has been closed for quite some time and is not safe to walk on currently. Engineering reports that the bridge is repairable and can be saved.

07/09/2024

Thank you to Jason from the The Bridgehunter's Chronicles for writing this article on the Keeseville Swing Bridge Restoration! As you all know, our historic bridges took a triple crown win in the 2021 International Bridgehunter Awards!

https://bridgehunterschronicles.wordpress.com/2024/07/07/keeseville-suspension-bridge-to-be-rehabilitated/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0xQvQA9-XZzWDCZ4lUyJSjtPsCRZohCzQ_-CQNKEXcene84w6Dm2QDtGc_aem_G-wKvFxizqsnycgc7X2OZQ

$1.95 million grant given to Keeseville to restore suspension bridge KEESEVILLE, NEW YORK- Back in 2022, I had an opportunity to interview Matt Pray about the future of the historic bridges of Kees…

06/26/2024

To Clinton County Highway Superintendent Karl Weiss:

Hi Karl,

Please accept my sincerest thank you for your efforts in writing a grant to restore our Historic Swing Bridge. Your efforts are very much appreciated. We are so glad that you were able to work with our Town Supervisors to find a solution.

Thank you again,

06/26/2024

Dear Essex County Supervisors,

As you all may be aware, we have had some recent successes in our "Save Keeseville's Historic Bridges" campaign. Clinton County has applied for and been awarded a grant for a restoration of our pedestrian "Swing Bridge" in Keeseville.

I'd like to take the time to briefly remind the board that several years ago, the Board of Supervisors voted to research and apply for grants to do a historic restoration of the "Upper Bridge" and open it for at the very least, pedestrian traffic or emergency traffic.

I'm requesting that any information regarding any grants that were applied for be sent to Supervisor Barber, as no communication has been forwarded to me in the last several years. We ask that you honor your commitment to the people of the Town of Chesterfield.

If you are a newly elected Supervisor and would like a tour of our Historic Bridges, I would be happy to take you on a short walking tour. You can also find information here:

www.keesevillehistoricbridges.com

Thank You,

06/23/2024

Thank you all for the tremendous outpouring of support over the last few days! We got one! This has reinvigorated the cause, and conversations begin on “the next one”. 🙂