Stevenson Bridge

View towards the North

Stevenson Bridge is a local landmark due to its age and unique appearance: it's covered in graffiti. Love messages, insults, and downright creepy messages can be found scrawled across the entire span of bridge. Not a nook is uncovered leaving spectators wondering what the original color of the bridge is.

It spans Putah Creek, which lies about a hundred feet below, at the junction of County Road 95a (Yolo County) and Stevenson Bridge Road (Solano County). To find it, take Russell Blvd. west to County Road 95a, turn left (south), it lies 1200m (4000ft.) ahead.

The bridge is host to fugitive band geeks, bicyclers, people making strange commutes, kids drinking forties, In-N-Out garbage, a trashed car, a ton of old metal scraps, trees, a quiet creek in the summer, a raging creek in the winter, a nice smell (sort of), a good morning walk, a great date, Sheridan & Alexis' love, a cute path, the exhortation to "bike fast", scattered used syringes, dead animal carcasses, a geocache, and a lot of bats at night. The bridge in the morning is a truly magical thing.

The bridge was built in 1923 and has been identified by the state of California as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. It's one of only three bridges in California that utilizes an architectural design known as the "overhead tie arch." Those concrete arches are part of what makes the bridge so special.

Unfortunately, the age and condition of the bridge have led the state to declare it "structurally deficient" and "functionally obsolete." In 2007, Yolo and Solano counties approved a $5.5 million rehabilitation plan. Construction is not expected to begin until 2012, and the estimated completion date is 2013. The rehabilitation could mean the loss of much of the graffiti.

A nice poem featuring the bridge is aptly named Bridge.

Read a story with photos about the history of this famous bridge in Davis Life Magazine.

On the creek's banks lie all sorts of oddities:

An old, dead, rusted car. Anyone missing a car? A bunch of weird twisted metal is all over the place. It's all covered in graffiti.

In 2004 a photoshoot for the softcore pornography website suicidegirls.com occurred at the bridge (more details at pornography).

Davis resident Bill Pfanner recorded a CD of original music called "Memories of Graffiti Bridge" with photos of this site. The CD is available from CD BABY and the title song and images can be viewed there or here.

Looking over Putah Creek

Comments:

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Fishing under the bridge at 2:00 AM is suprisingly fun, and it was my first foray into night fishing. —StevenDaubert

2007-03-16 01:39:15   Oh wow, I need to go here now —AliceChoe

2007-08-11 14:46:20   It's rumored that TaylorStreet lost his virginity here. Taylor, can you confirm? —BradBenedict

2007-08-13 12:27:49   Twice, in fact. —TaylorStreet

2007-12-20 08:28:10   And of course the long-time local Dixon Area Rock & Roll Band named after Stevenson Bridge can now be found at stevensonbridge.com —skipp