Delhi Bridge

Delhi Mills was founded in 1831 by Jacob Dorms, who built a sawmill at the rapids. By the mid to late 1800s, the area had become a thriving village with two flour mills, a woolen mill, a saw mill, and a plaster mill, and remains of mill foundations are still visible west of the bridge on both sides of the river. Many homes in Delhi Mills date from this 19th-century hamlet. The Delhi Bridge, originally erected here between 1888 and 1890, is one of a few drive-through truss wrought iron bridges in Michigan still in use, with its trusses above the bridge deck rather than below it. When it was built, Delhi Mills was a booming mill town, but with the coming of electricity, the mills closed. On June 6, 1917, a tornado swept through Delhi Mills, twisting the bridge, lifting it off its abutments, and throwing it onto the river, badly damaging it. In 1918, the bridge was re-erected, though it is not known whether the original bridge was repaired or a similar bridge of the same vintage was erected.

Michigan · United States