Mill St. / S. Branch Raisin River

County: Jackson

City/Township: Brooklyn

Location: Mill St. / S. Branch Raisin River

Year Built: 1925

About this Bridge:
The attractive stone veneer that faces the concrete arch of the Mill Street Bridge qualifies this unique, aesthetically pleasing structure for the National Register.

In 1921, Henry Ford purchased Brooklyn's original mill site along the banks of the Raisin River. An industrial plant was constructed in 1937, with workers producing automobile horns, distributors, and starter switches. From 1954 to 1967, output shifted to plastic automobile interior parts and lamp lenses. A giant water wheel provided hyrdo-electric power for the manufacturing operation.

If the 1925 construction date attributed to the present bridge is correct, it may have been built to accommodate anticipated traffic increases associated with Ford's property immediately to the south of the crossing, although the site was left vacant for several years. The stone facing may have come from the previous bridge at that location, a three-span stone arch structure.