The Historic Watmaugh Bridge Over Sonoma Creek
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The creek crossing at Watmaugh Road was a ford until the 1890s when, at the behest of local residents, the County financed construction of a wooden bridge. The Watmaugh Road crossing provided a more direct link to the south end of Sonoma and the lower Broadway area. The King Iron Bridge Manufacturing Company was awarded a $2,730 contract in 1891 to build the bridge. Under the 1919 Highway Modernization Plan, the County opted to replace the original bridge over Sonoma Creek as part of a series of improvements to what was then known as the Petaluma-Sonoma Highway. County Surveyor Edward A. Peugh drew up the plans for the replacement steel truss bridge in 1927, and on March 12, 1929, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors awarded a contract of $14,783 to Walter Lewis Proctor to build it.
