There was a time when Norwalkers fished for Trout on the Norwalk River. We know this because it was memorialized on a postcard. Today the trout fishing is a seasonal event on the Saugatuck River in Westport. But for fans of urban exploration, here is the old postcard.
And here is the bridge, hidden away under the Grist Mill ramp to the Route 7 connector thanks to an intrepid explorer four years ago.
The bridge was built over sometime in the 1980’s, when Caldors was shrinking, several office buildings were built now known as Merrit 7, and the local lore claims that the Norwalk River was rerouted to make that happen. The site was actually the place where an old Iron Mill was located. On the south, the Merrit view building was built. And recently, between 2015-and 2024, apartments have been built to infill the vacant land after US Surgical decamped for greener pastures in another state. In early the early 2000s, developers created a new office building for Diageo. Once the tax incentives expired they moved back to Stamford, got another discount, let it expire and moved their HQ back to Manhattan. The railway station behind Merrit 7 was opened in 1985 to handle the added traffic. Despite all this history, and the looming reconstruction of the Walk Bridge, no one in City Hall, thought to electrify the rails between this station, Wall Street and the the SoNo train station.
Whenever you are stuck in traffic on I-95 or the Merrit, remember that successive local government just couldn’t bring themselves to fight for making your commuter easier by linking rail lines to actually beneficial destinations.
