at the Walton Bridge site in Keene, is that the Heald family had farms on both sides of the river and were involved in nearby iron mines and a sawmill. In the mid-19th century, they may have built the first bridge at this location, which was likely to have been a simple wooden truss span. The volatile nature of the river at this location is reported to have washed away several 19th-century bridges that were built lower to the river. The bridge that had become obsolete in Black Brook was ideally suited to its new site in Keene. On its higher abutments, protected from the torrents of the river, the Walton Bridge has served this small crossing and unimproved road well and provides a good example of how bridges were moved and reused in other locations. The bridge stayed in active service until 1990, when the Essex County Highway Department decided that, because there was another access to the Dr. Ray Road (Old Gristmill Road), it was not essential and could be closed. It remained in use as a pedestrian bridge between Old Gristmill and Hulls Falls Roads. On August 28, 2011, the bridge was destroyed by the force of floodwaters that followed the rains of Tropical Storm Irene. The bridge in its entirety was washed downstream in pieces, with some lingering in the riverbed near its former site, and others assumed to be far downstream. References Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Bridges completed in 1840 Bridges in Essex County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, New York Iron bridges in the United States Truss bridges in the United States Buildings and structures destroyed by flooding