A Bridge Over River Nappan
According to Bernard Bailyn's Voyagers to the West, in a section entitled "Competence and Emergence", my 4th great grandfather William Pipes Jr. (1751-1804) collaborated with another of my 4th great grandfathers, Thomas Coates (1741-1813), to build a bridge across the Nappan River in the late 1700's so the farmers in that area would not be perpetually at the mercy of the tides. Thomas Coates had emigrated from "the southern end of the long ridge of dark, desolate, and particularly wet moors known as Black Hambleton; he was certainly acquainted with the techniques used in Yorkshire for wetlands reclamation." They collected 180 pounds in subscriptions from nearby farmers "invested substantially themselves, and after much difficulty attempting to sink and secure timber pilings in marshland swept by huge tidal flows, managed to get the bridge built." According to Bailyn, this meant that the road from Halifax to the isthmus could now go north along the farm of William Pipes "rather than having to circle far east, via a ferry, to the left bank of the Hebert."
During my 2013 and 2014 visits I drove over the Nappan River on the Southhampton Road numerous times without realizing it was even there. I had to make a point of actually looking for the river to find it. There is a long earthen dyke and a modern aboiteau for controlling water flow visible west of the bridge so it's possible that continued diking and land reclamation have tamed and severely reduced the size of this river. The intersection of Southampton Road and Highway 302, the Nappan Road, is just south of the bridge.
On the 1873 A. F. Church Map, there is a William L. Coates very near the bridge over the Nappan River where today's Southampton Road merges with Hwy 302. The United Church sits near that corner today. There is a William L. Coates listed on the 1871 census with neighbours who also appear on the 1873 A. F. Church Map. William L. Pipes (1834-1876) who married Ann Smith was the son of Caleb S. Pipes (1813-1873), the grandson of John Parkinson Pipes (1786-1866) and the great grandson of the bridge-building William Pipes Jr. (1751-1804). More investigation will be required to determine whether another bridge was built across the Nappan River, the location of the road from Halifax and how Robert Coates and William L. Pipes acquired their properties.
During my 2013 and 2014 visits I drove over the Nappan River on the Southhampton Road numerous times without realizing it was even there. I had to make a point of actually looking for the river to find it. There is a long earthen dyke and a modern aboiteau for controlling water flow visible west of the bridge so it's possible that continued diking and land reclamation have tamed and severely reduced the size of this river. The intersection of Southampton Road and Highway 302, the Nappan Road, is just south of the bridge.
On the 1873 A. F. Church Map, there is a William L. Coates very near the bridge over the Nappan River where today's Southampton Road merges with Hwy 302. The United Church sits near that corner today. There is a William L. Coates listed on the 1871 census with neighbours who also appear on the 1873 A. F. Church Map. William L. Pipes (1834-1876) who married Ann Smith was the son of Caleb S. Pipes (1813-1873), the grandson of John Parkinson Pipes (1786-1866) and the great grandson of the bridge-building William Pipes Jr. (1751-1804). More investigation will be required to determine whether another bridge was built across the Nappan River, the location of the road from Halifax and how Robert Coates and William L. Pipes acquired their properties.
Sources:
Bailyn, Bernard. Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the American Revolution, Toronto, Random House, 1986. Winner of the Pulitzer prize in history 1987. Portions of this outstanding book are available for online viewing. An entire section is devoted to Francklin and Yorkshire. The information about Thomas Coates and William Pipes Jr. appears in a section called "Competence and Emergence."
Bailyn, Bernard. Voyagers to the West: A Passage in the Peopling of America on the Eve of the American Revolution, Toronto, Random House, 1986. Winner of the Pulitzer prize in history 1987. Portions of this outstanding book are available for online viewing. An entire section is devoted to Francklin and Yorkshire. The information about Thomas Coates and William Pipes Jr. appears in a section called "Competence and Emergence."