When Dad was growing up in Sheboygan, Grandpa TerMaat supported the family driving delivery trucks, but later in life he was the bridge tender for the 8th Street drawbridge and this is how his grandkids remember him. The picture above of Grandpa enjoying the view from the bridge with grandson Chris dates from around 1957.
These two pictures show Chris and I visiting Grandpa at his workplace in 1963. I remember being a little jealous of Chris because he got to help make the bridge go up and down for a boat to pass through. I thought it was an awesome job, sort of like having a superpower. I get a special thrill anytime I encounter a draw or lift bridge and think of my grandfather.
The brick building visible in the background of the photo above is the C. Reiss Coal Company building. You can learn more about that company and see some other historical, views of the Sheboygan river and harbor at this page. The bridge is visible in the lower left corner of this aerial shot which looks like it dates from Grandpa's era.
I don't recall ever hearing stories about mishaps or other incidents at the bridge, though there is one famous drawbridge accident from 1911 that pops up on the Sheboygan history sites, in which a trolley car slid off the open bridge drowning three. Surely that story would have been passed down from one bridge tender to the next.
Here you can have a look around the modernized bridge as it looks today via Google Street View.
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