All That’s Left: there is one last piece of the Lassiter Mill Bridge left standing in a Raleigh city park. There’s but one wall of the old mill left, while the dam and the spillway across Crabtree Creek are still there.
The last remnant of Lassiter Mill Bridge in 2021
The bridge was 110 foot long and 15 foot wide, and stood 20 foot tall. It was a steel truss bridge, and it replaced an earlier wooden bridge.Originally spanning the Neuse River north of Raleigh, the bridge was relocated to the Mill site in 1920. Condemned and demolished in 1984, it is thought to have been the last remaining steel truss bridge in Wake County.
Lassiter Mill Bridge around 1974.
They’re just a feature of an Inside-The-Beltline neighborhood and part of a small city park that most people have no idea is even there.As kids, this spot was a swimming hole, and it was a rite of passage to shimmy up to the top of the bridge and dive in the creek below.
The only remaining wall of the old Lassiter Mill
The site of Lassiter Mill as seen from above. Left is where the bridge once stood. Right is the mill dam. Not seen to the right is the last remaining wall of the old mill structure.
Most people in Raleigh have heard of Avent Ferry Road, maybe they’ve seen a road by the same name 15 miles south in Holly Springs, but few of them know where Avent’s Ferry actually was.
The ferry operated from1775 until 1926, and was vital for transportation and commerce in central North Carolina. The state replaced the ferry with a bridge in 1926, but roads heading south from Raleigh and through Holly Springs still bear its name.
Today, where NC-42 crosses the Cape Fear River, you’re driving across the bridge the replaced Avent Ferry.
Bridge over the Cape Fear River at NC-42, between Sanford and Corinth, NC photo by the author, 3/20/2021Avent’s Ferry Bridge as seen from the boat launch at the northern end of the bridge.A historical sign denotes the location of the historic ferry.The location of Avent’s Ferry relative to Raleigh.
Personally, some of the best nights in my life were spent in the Village Subway, in Cameron Village, Raleigh, NC US of A. We were sure we were all almost famous, and funny thing, that’s exactly what some of us became. I personally didn’t, but I damn sure had a good time in my early 1920’s.
Imagine a 2,500 square foot club, hot and sweaty, packed to the gills; so tightly that dancing was basically jumping straight up and down. At any given times, there might be three, perhaps four other people pressing up against you, and undoubtedly you were doing the same to someone else. And, oh, the B-52’s playing on a tiny stage ten feet in front of you.
It was just another night at the Café Deja Vu, in beautiful Raleighwood North Carolina in the 1980’s.
I truly believe that The B-52’s have been underrated by a lot of rock historians. They were new, quirky, they were different, and they were silly a lot of the time, but they were also incredibly talented and incredibly fun. Seeing them once was enough to make someone be see them every time they came through town and listen to their records in between.
Without trying to sound like someone waxing about their lost youth, it was always a good time. So were the after-hours parties with Fred Schneider holding court, or maybe my roommate, Berklee graduate David Matos of The Snap showing off his ability to play anything by ear after hearing it once, and by play, I mean every single instrument.
I haven’t spoken to Fred or David in 30+ years now, and I doubt he remembers me, but I do enjoy knowing that my friend Neilan Tyree (whom I met through my wife Maggie) and Fred are good friends. For his part, David did a turn on Broadway as the lead guitarist in Motown The Musical, among many other things. He’s always had a solid career, and still does so far as I know They are all really good people, and it was fun knowing them, however slightly, before they got really famous.
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