Main Street Bridge carries a lot of history

Just about everyone calls the span “The Main Street Bridge,” although its official name is the Pilarcitos Creek Bridge because it crosses the waterway of that name which flows to the ocean, according to the National Park Services National Register of Historic Places.

“Today the Pilarcitos Creek Bridge is nearly identical to photographs taken in the early 1900s,” the register says. The bridge is “a gateway to a more prosaic and reflective existence. Nearly every photo taken on Main Street over the past 100 years has the bridge either front and center or otherwise present, making it a highly relevant and associated part of Half Moon Bay’s overall historical narrative.”

The bridge, which provided the only access to downtown Half Moon Bay and points south until the construction of the Route 1 bypass that opened in 1955, replaced a simple wooden bridge that was part of a trail that dropped down toward the creek and then rose sharply after crossing to the other side, according to “The Treasures of Half Moon Bay,” written by David Cresson of the Half Moon Bay History Association.

The “historical narrative” would certainly include San Mateo County Supervisor Joseph Debenedetti of Half Moon Bay, the first Italian-American elected to the Board of Supervisors, who played a key role in seeing the bridge become a reality. The Debenedetti Building on Main Street bears his name. A native of Genoa, Italy, Debenedetti was among the influx of European immigrants who came to the Half Moon Bay area in the latter part of the 19th Century. Irish, German, Italian and Portuguese made up the majority of newcomers seeking a better life on the coastside. Their numbers included merchants, business people, dairy workers and farmers.

Debenedetti came to the area in the late 1860s and became a dry goods merchant. He traveled on foot down the coastline with a heavy pack of goods on his back, selling door to door to farmers. His hard work paid off and, by 1877, he had married, built a home and had three stores, including one in Half Moon Bay that became a popular meeting place for citizens. He became a member of the school board as well as acting postmaster. He was elected a San Mateo County supervisor in 1896.

Debenedetti reached out to bridge designer Curtis Tobey and County Surveyor Davenport Bromfield, and the Board of Supervisors approved plans in 1899, listing Tobey as the architect and Bromfield as the engineer. In total, three bridges of nearly identical design would be completed in San Mateo County in 1900-1901. The first and the largest was the Pilarcitos Creek Bridge. Second was the El Cerrito or San Mateo Creek Bridge, and the last the Bear Gulch Bridge.

The Rear View Mirror by history columnist Jim Clifford appears in the Daily Journal every other Monday. Objects in The Mirror are closer than they appear.