The Regency Bridge is one of the last suspension bridges in Texas. It is located at the intersection of Mills County Road 433 and San Saba County Road 137. It spans the Colorado River as it has done since 1903. The river through here is the county line. It has a span of 325 feet and is made of wood. Most of it is hand- made. It fell in 1924 killing a boy, a horse, and some cattle. It was demolished in 1936 by flood waters. Rebuilt in 1939 it was the pride of the area. Kids would go to the bridge to picnic and dance and sing. Some of them probably got up enough courage to jump off the bridge. The community of Regency has about 25 people. The Regency Bridge has a weight limit of 5000 pounds and it is one lane, but it serves the needs of
the locals.
Bridges are vital for transportation. Amazing bridges have been built around the country and the world. The Golden Gate Bridge comes to my mind as one of these. They are built, not to be a place to picnic and dance and swim, as the Regency Bridge became, but they are to get us somewhere.
We hear talk about building bridges with other peoples and countries. What do we mean? They are ways of communication and service that take us somewhere. We should all be in the bridge-building business in our own little county-line places of opportunity. It is easier to burn a bridge than to build it when it is made of wood. There are a lot of bridge burners today. What we need are bridge builders. Got a hammer?
