Haystack Landing for kids
The Bridge That Spins Around. A true story near Petaluma, CA, told for kids 6-8.
Read along
Look out the window! Do you see a train bridge over the water? This is Haystack Landing in Petaluma, California. The first bridge here was a swing bridge, built in 1903 and installed in 1904. It could turn, like a spinning plate! When a boat needed to get through, the whole bridge swung sideways.
Whirrr! It was run by buttons and a small electric motor. Imagine pushing a button and making a bridge dance! Today's bridge is a different one. The train company, SMART, found an old drawbridge in Galveston, Texas, that was going to be scrapped. They bought it instead!
It weighs about 2.2 million pounds. Now it gets a second life, carrying passenger trains over the river. Can you find the tracks? Count how many boats or birds you see near the water.
Quiz the back seat
How did the first bridge let boats go by?
Show the answer
It swung sideways. It swung sideways! A swing bridge turns on a round base, like a giant spinning plate.
3 fun facts
- The first Haystack Landing bridge was a swing bridge built in 1903 and installed in 1904.
- It was run by buttons and a 5-horsepower electric motor.
- The new bridge was an old drawbridge from Galveston, Texas, that was going to be scrapped, and it weighs about 2.2 million pounds.
For grown-ups
Written with AI from public sources, then checked claim by claim against the sources below before it was published; stories that don't pass stay off the app and this site. Narration is pre-recorded, and nothing you do on this page is tied to your kids.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haystack_Landing
- digital.sonomalibrary.org/Documents/Detail/haystack-house-property-after-the-house-burned-down-petaluma-boulevard-south-petaluma-california-2004/60270
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haystack_Landing_Bridge
- pressdemocrat.com/2012/02/13/smart-to-buy-a-drawbridge
- wje.com/projects/detail/haystack-landing-bridge
- facebook.com/groups/350648048350702/posts/24193326430322863
- federalregister.gov/documents/2019/10/23/2019-23046/drawbridge-operation-regulation-petaluma-river-haystack-landing-petaluma-ca
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