Old Rusty Bridge

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Joppa Community

The Old Rusty Bridge

How important is an old 1907 rusty iron bridge in an out of the way place in Burnet County?

To some it’s a big part of their childhood memories. Memories of a lifestyle that produced life-long memories. Memories and recollections of family, friends, gatherings on or near the bridge. A simple time when people were eager to spend time together. A simple life of what is really important.

As in the simple, peaceful life Jesus lived. A life that gives life.

Thousands of individuals have used, crossed over, fished off of, taken “ownership” and connected their lives to that old rusty Joppa bridge that crosses over the North San Gabriel River. It sits a few miles down river from where the first settlers (the Webster party) attempted to settle on a league and a labor of land in 1839, sixty-eight years prior to the bridge being built in 1907. The Webster party was prohibited from settling on their land at the time, due to 300 Comanches who were camped there.

Will the new concrete bridge, beside it, produce memories and be just as important to Burnet County residents? Or just be something to drive on to cross the river for convenience. It’s needed in a practical way but the old iron bridge is needed in another way. Together, side by side, both connect the past and the present.

The “old rusty iron bridge” speaks of life lived, the new concrete bridge speaks of convenience. Both needed. One important enough to become a state historic site in 2017, but then had to be closed by the county due to needed repairs.

Let’s open it, create a small out of the way 'Iron Bridge Park' and rebound the memories and stories. Let’s take ownership and pass it on. Time along with the stories are slipping by.

~ Delbert Cain, December 2022

Memories

I wish we knew all the memories and could record what the Bridge meant to them.

Like the near ninety-year-old county resident who as a boy, in the 1930’s fished along with his Dad near the bridge.
Or an individual as a young girl saw the flood waters of 1957 cover the floor of the bridge.
The young senior high school girls who took photos on the bridge in their prom dresses.
A young boy who put a note in a bottle, threw it off the bridge and it was found near Georgetown.
A Burnet couple, who, surrounded by their family, married on the bridge in 2016
A young man from Kansas who in 2022 proposed to a young Burnet County woman on that bridge. Then both families stood together and had their photo taken on that old rusty bridge. One family from Kansas and the other from Burnet County. The couple will live in Kansas and raise their family there. When telling their life story to their children it will include that “old rusty bridge” and be important to the future.
The BCISD stopped letting the school buses cross over the old bridge in the early 1990s.
"The first time I ever kissed my future wife was on Old Joppa Bridge" (1997)
A couple from Briggs would pull their hayride rig, from Briggs to Joppa Bridge, filled with revellers of all ages

All true stories, but only a few of the hundreds that could be told. Each one important

When they revisit the old bridge years from now (and they will), what will they find? A pile of rusty iron or a bridge full of stories, important to all and still producing stories and fond memories of lives lived.

- D. Cain, Dec 2022

pls send your personal stories and photos to toni.schmid@gmail.com to be shared on this page

Important enough ...

to become a state historic site in 2017
for community volunteers to decorate it with lights for Christmas.
to have “Coffee on the Bridge” once a month with others from the community.
for young history teachers, one from San Saba the other from Kerrville to visit both iron bridges and go back to teach what they learned.
for non-residents to stop, visit and read the historic marker after discovering this out of the way bridge.
for a family to bring their children to it to throw rocks in the water, look at the turtles, fish and be in a quiet, tree covered place for a little while.
for twenty-nine individuals to gather on the bridge recently to sing Christmas carols.
for a mother and her young children who sat out on the bridge under the Christmas lights to share a carton of Blue Bell ice cream.
for a family who took hot chocolate to enjoy under the Christmas lights on a cold, crisp, quiet night in December.
for a young woman in 2011 who chose to be baptized in the water below the bridge while around twenty people watched from the bridge above.
for a young man to choose Joppa Bridge for a Proposal of Marriage to his beloved
for couples to exchange their Marriage Vows on the bridge.
for neighbors to be struck with shock & sorrow when it was swept away in the July 2025 flood
to be held forever in our hearts, and never forgotten ...

~ D. Cain, Dec 2022

Personal Recollections

He had returned to Joppa

The Bridge was our Playground

Several years ago, on a beautiful Saturday morning, a small group of very well-dressed strangers were found standing on the old Russell Gabriel Bridge. Their cars were parked on the side of the road next to the new bridge. They had climbed the fence and were gathered on the old bridge. The owner of the property adjacent to the bridge drove past the group and stopped to ask what they were doing on the bridge.

They had traveled from Houston to honor their Grandfather's last wish. He told his family that the happiest days of his entire life were spent fishing and roaming up and down the Russell Gabriel Fork of the San Gabriel when he was a young boy with his friends under the bridge.

None in the group had ever been to Joppa, but they all knew where to find the bridge, because their Grandfather had told them where to scattter his ashes. The family had a private ceremony and as they emptied the urn, they threw flowers into the dark water of the Gabriel, and said good-bye to their loved one.

He had returned to Joppa

(source: page 3 of the Bryson book)

The Bridge was our Playground

A long time Joppa resident recalls ...

When I was growing up (in the 1950s) and attending Sunday School and Church at Joppa, the bridge was our playground. After the final Amen was said, my friends and I would run to the bridge, lean over the iron red rails and see how deep the dark green water was on that day. Rocks being thrown into the water was the main activity and I am sure if someone investigated the depth of the river beneath the bridge, it would show that the bottom of the North Gabriel is just a little bit deeper there than the rest of the river.

Another activity after Church would be watching the older boys climb up on the side rails and walk back and forth holding on to the top iron supports of the bridge. This, of course, was an act of getting attention from the girls, and it usually worked.

Sometimes we could lean over the side rails and see someone fishing on the side bank of the creek, and we would yell down to see if they had caught anything. Often cars or pickup trucks would pass over the bridge while we were standing on the side leaning over the rails. It was no big deal; no one ever felt that they were in any danger of being run down by a vehicle.

Our parents did not accompany us to the bridge. The bigger children would look ut after the smaller children and, when it was time to go home, our parents would usually just drive by and instruct us to get in the car, it was time to go home. They always knew we were safe at the bridge, and most of them had played out the same scene as they wee growing up on the Joppa Bridge. It was a wonderful playground, not to mention, a wonderful memory for so many people.

Baptism at the Old Bridge

The Bridge was our Playground

let's add your memory here

Milli Williams' granddaughter, Gwen, was Baptized on 23 January 2011 at Joppa by Pastor Ryan Schmidt.
Family and friends watched from the old bridge from a unique vantage point.

I wonder how many baptisms have been done in the same way over the life of that bridge?

- Isaac

August 2025

let's add your memory here

pls send your personal stories to toni.schmid@gmail.com

let's add your memory here

pls send your personal stories to toni.schmid@gmail.com

let's add your memory here

pls send your personal stories to toni.schmid@gmail.com

Purpose

Delbert's purpose for writing the content above:

To express the importance of the old bridge.
To promote life and what’s important.
To preserve history.
To continue the memories & stories going forward for future generations
To create “ownership” by the people/residents.

*** PLEASE *** If you have past, recent, or way way in the past, memories, stories & photos on and near the “old bridge” you’d like to share, send them to:

ourjoppacommunity@outlook.com and toni.schmid@gmail.com

With your permission, we will add them to the Memories Section on this page

Joppa Community

Ode to the Old Rusty Bridge

Christmas Bridge

The Old Rusty Bridge

Memories

Important enough ...

Personal Recollections

He had returned to Joppa

The Bridge was our Playground

The Bridge was our Playground

The Bridge was our Playground

The Bridge was our Playground

The Bridge was our Playground

Baptism at the Old Bridge

The Bridge was our Playground

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

Lives have been changed at the Old Joppa Bridge

Special Memories on the Bridge

Purpose

How You Can Help

Please share your Stories & Photos

Joppa Community

Ode to the Old Rusty Bridge

Christmas Bridge

The Old Rusty Bridge

Memories

Important enough ...

Personal Recollections

He had returned to Joppa

The Bridge was our Playground

The Bridge was our Playground

The Bridge was our Playground

The Bridge was our Playground

The Bridge was our Playground

Baptism at the Old Bridge

The Bridge was our Playground

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

let's add your memory here

Lives have been changed at the Old Joppa Bridge

Special Memories on the Bridge

Purpose

How You Can Help

** Please share your Stories & Photos **

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