The former cotton transfer bridge that linked the cotton storehouse to the Nashua Manufacturing Co. mills has been reopened as a renovated footbridge.

The bridge at one time was used to transfer cotton to the Nashua Manufacturing complex on the south side of the Nashua River from the receiving building.

Now the Cotton Mill apartment building is on the opposite bank.

According to Nashua’s city website, an aerial
trolley spanned the Nashua River for 20 years where the Cotton Transfer Bridge currently stands. Jewell A. Wallace, owner of the trolley who lived at 40 Front Street and worked in the mills, died when the trolley cable snapped on
August 8, 1908.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Cotton Transfer Bridge was built in October 1910. It is one of the oldest riveted single span high Pratt truss bridges remaining in New Hampshire.

Osgood Construction Co. constructed the concrete piers. Boston Bridge Company built the steel structure.

Originally wood-clad and covered, the 144-feet span bridge housed 4 conveyor belt pipes. It transferred 500-pound cotton bales from the North Cotton Storehouse on the north side of the Nashua River to the Picker House and Mill #3. In 1924, 800 people used it as a footbridge when the Main Street Bridge burned. The city restored the bridge in 2007, opening it to the public in 2008.

The bridge had been fenced off for a time before being renovated as part of the Cotton Mill housing project.

A ramp and stairs allow access on either side of the river. It will allow access to the city’s Riverwalk project and the Clocktower Place apartments.