Page 7 - Demo

accomplished it would be easier to bring in the materials required to construct the bridge over the creek. Once the bridge over Harris Creek was complete, materials to build “the immense bridge which is to span the James” could be brought in by rail, avoiding the need
to transport the steel to the worksite by other means.
Work closer to the city was moving along at a brisk pace that spring too. The E. G. Nave Brothers Company
was awarded a subcontract for the completion of grading in the West End. The May 8, 1909, News reported:
An immense steam shovel has been located at the head of Eighth street and this will be worked in the direc- tion of Park Avenue. This appears to be the largest piece of machinery of this character ever worked on the cut-off.*
Entertainment in those days was rather limited. There was no broadcast radio. Live productions were offered at many of the theatrical establishments in the city: the Academy, the Gaiety, the Belvedere, and the Rivermont Casino, to name a few. One could bowl or shoot
* The newspaper often referred to the belt-line project as the “cut-off.”
pool or play ball. Or, as noted in The News on May 15, 1909, one could be a sidewalk superintendent:
Quite a number of people journey
out to the West End daily to watch for a time the operation of the big steam shovel on the new route of the Southern Railway...The big machine
is located within a square of Park Avenue...and it is working in earth soft enough to be removed without blasting... In a few weeks, with good weather, the contractors will be up against the proposition of going under Park Avenue, and just how this will be accomplished without stopping traffic will be watched with interest.
14 LYNCH’S FERRY