| I first saw Wildwood Park in
1972. There was a building on stilts that
was used for meetings, etc., that sat just over a dam.
The following is a quote from the Bridgewater
Current, the local town newsletter: "The primary purpose of
the Old Mill Dam, aside from its recreational function, was to create an
impoundment for the Town's water supply intake" (Today the majority
of the Town's water supply is taken from the Town's 390` well which has
been in use since 1999). "The Old Mill Dam was constructed
around 1880 and, according to the best information available, the
concrete gravity dam was built to direct water into a concrete mill race
which supplied power for a milling operation. A rock ledge, one of
the many that juts out of the river bed in line almost exactly
perpendicular to the flow of the river, serves as the foundation of the
dam. This concrete dam replaced a wooden dam which is still
visible just below the water surface at a distance of 10 to 20 feet
upstream. the dam is 257 feel long, apprximately 12 feet high, 3
feet thick at the top, and about 9 feet thick at the base. Two
gates are located one-third of the way across the dam from the
Bridgewater side. The steel gates each measure approximately 3
feet wide by 5 feet high. The gear-and-wheel mechanisms located on top
of the day that were used to raise the lower gate were lost in the
Hurricane Fran flood."
Bridgewater
was hit by three serious floods in 1949, 1985 and 1996. The latter
two events really changed the park. After 1985, a damaged private
residence in the park was sold to the town, and this opened up the park
with lots of "wild" territory to explore. The vegetation
was fairly standard riverbank stuff mixed in with what was introduced
through the private property. After the 1996 flood the town had a
plan to open up the park, while at the same time clearing out the flood
damage. Much of the native vegetation was lost because of the
"clearing out." Many local
citizens, including myself, were not in approval of the plan for the use
of the park. We got together and requested that the town change Wildwood into a park that could be used as a
natural area for study by local schools, which then would make the park
perhaps more in concert with the natural area around it. The town
worked with us on this. Today Wildwood is a synthesis of the various citizen
groups mentioned on the sign you see as you enter the natural area of
the park. Today the park is a nice little place with lots
of beauty in it.
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