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CTMQ > Everything Else > Towers, Bridges, Forts, Tunnels, Roads, Canals, Dams, Fishways, Airports, & Ferries > Frog Bridge

Frog Bridge

November 3, 2007 by Steve 10 Comments

Giant Frogs! Sew?
The Thread City Crossing, Windham

August 25, 2007

“Oh c’mon, Steve,” you’re saying. “A bridge? In Willimantic?” Yup. Like YOU have a bridge with giant thread spools and giant frogs all over it in YOUR town?

Of course you don’t. And besides, this “Frog Bridge” has become famous in its own right… it is featured prominently in the book, “Weird New England.” Furthermore, it has spawned several website entries – which do not lack for wives tales, quirky explanations, and fruitless searches for truth.

But that’s why you have CTMQ – THE authority on such important matters. So why the frogs and the thread? Sit back, relax, and learn… First, the easy part.

Willimantic is known as the Thread City. (Connecticut is fond of historic manufacturing nicknames… Bell Town, Brass City, Silver City, Hardware City – these are all real, by the way.) The town was once a very important textile town but since has fallen on some very, very hard times. In fact, Willimantic became somewhat infamous after a 2002 series in The Hartford Courant called “Heroin Town” led to a “60 Minutes” feature on it, also called “Heroin Town.” It’s quite sad, actually, because there is a University here (Eastern CT State University) and UConn is only a short drive away.

2020 update: it’s better now.

In the late 1990’s, the town earmarked some money to build a new bridge here; one that would spark town pride and speak to its rich history. It is 476 feet long and cost $13 million (each frog was $50K). The brass frogs are 11 feet tall on top of the huge spools. In 2002, the Federal Highway Administration awarded the Frog Bridge an Honorable Mention for Excellence in Highway Design, in the category of Historic Preservation. Leo Jensen of Ivoryton, Connecticut is the sculptor of the frogs.

The frogs actually have names: Manny, Willy, Windy and Swifty. One assumes they are named for Mansfield, Willimantic, Windham, and… the swift current of the Willimantic River?

Blah, blah, blah… why the dang frogs?! This harks back to the legend of the Frog Fight, a harrowing night in 1754 when townspeople rushed outside with their muskets to defend themselves from an unseen screeching menace. The next morning, they discovered scores of dead frogs, who had fought for the last remaining puddles of water in a drought-stricken lake.

The frogs have catapulted the bridge to the forefront of American roadside kitsch (if such a thing exists). Bill Griffith even devoted a “Zippy the Pinhead” comic strip to the bridge in June 2001. It also speaks to the downfall of Willimantic as well.

Roasted

Not good enough? Ok, I’ll get a bit more in depth – although still a bit hokey: During the French and Indian War in 1754 Windham’s Colonel Eliphalet Dyer raised a local regiment to fight in the French and Indian War. Those left behind felt vulnerable to attack. The Windhamites’ worst fears seemed realized during a steamy-hot June night when unearthly screams emanated from the darkness: Valiant villagers grabbed muskets and fired blindly into the night.’ Some believed that the Day of Judgment had arrived, and gave prayer. Others hid under their beds.

The awful truth was revealed at dawn. Several hundred dead and dying bullfrogs were discovered in a dried-up millpond, two miles east of the village center. They had fought to the death in futile attempts to find moisture in the drought-ridden pond. Windham became forever known as the scene of the “Battle of the Frogs.”

Apparently this is true. Also true, and more tragic, is the tale of the very nearby Hotel Hooker. Thomas Hooker founded Hartford and his family name is actually not as laughed at by Nutmeggers as you’d think. The Hotel Hooker existed for a long, long time and became home to transients and the aforementioned heroin addicts. Recently, the Hotel Hooker was sold and renamed “Windham House” but the infamous yellow building with the impossible name will forever live on in my heart.

It’s impossible to know how true the frog story is, but it has somehow survived for hundreds of years and wound up inspiring a unique bridge and frogs all over the town. I’ll check out the actual Frog Pond someday and see what I can find. For now, let’s just enjoy a bridge with four giant frogs and spools of thread.

Because it’s cool.

They really are all over town


Connecticut Bridges
Statuary, Monuments, and Plaques

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Filed Under: Everything Else, Towers, Bridges, Forts, Tunnels, Roads, Canals, Dams, Fishways, Airports, & Ferries Tagged With: Cool Bridges, Dubious Claims, Statuary, Windham, Windham County

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Comments

  1. Catherine says

    November 4, 2007 at 5:50 am

    Hasn’t this town ever heard of frogs legs as a delicacy?????

  2. honeybunny says

    November 4, 2007 at 4:50 pm

    Did you ever see that awful movie called “Frogs” with Ray Milland and Joan Van Ark? Even it was better than this.

    hb

  3. Kathy P says

    November 7, 2007 at 8:03 pm

    I used to drive by that bridge all the time when I headed that way for
    work, not heroin… and was always curious why
    a) the giant frogs and b) such a new bridge in a dumpy (sorry Willimantic) sad town…
    Great work, and entertaining as always!

    Willimantic Brewing IS a great spot…and worthy of more than one small beer next time…

  4. Sharon says

    March 7, 2008 at 7:47 am

    Willimantic is a great town!!!!! Proud to live there.
    I don’t agree that it is a sad dumpy town, if you take the time to check it out, you will be pleasantly surprised at all that we have to offer. Most rural towns do have their share of drug abuse, but it has been our priority in the past several years to correct this, we have come a long way baby!!!

  5. Don says

    October 19, 2009 at 9:38 am

    I agree, Willimantic (part of Windham) has some neat stuff, including the CT Eastern Railroad Museum. I see it’s on your list of museums to visit.

    You can see a local music video of “Windam My Hometown” by the Outriggers here http://www.myspace.com/theoutriggers

  6. glen says

    August 1, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    frog legs for 5000

  7. Jodi says

    October 8, 2011 at 11:51 pm

    My husband honeymooned in Connecticut two years ago and never saw anything about the frog bridge in any tourist guide. Too bad we missed it, maybe next time.

  8. Dorothy says

    October 9, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    I’ve been to CT myself and some never saw or heard of this Frog bridge

  9. paul says

    October 16, 2011 at 6:48 am

    Love Ct love the scenery beautiful stores and History

  10. bettyl says

    February 9, 2012 at 5:14 am

    What a great bit of history entwined into the bridge design!

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