There are over 600,000 bridges in America. They continue to do their job over many years, and many have intriguing stories. America’s oldest seaport, Gloucester, Massachusetts, has sixteen bridges, but only three of them have a significant impact on the history, culture, and social well-being of the residents. Their unique function is to provide access off and on the island for thousands of people a day. 

Three Bridges to Paradise is a history of their reason for being, construction, maintenance, issues, and successes over the years since the Blynman Drawbridge and canal were built in 1643 to the Gloucester Railroad Drawbridge in 1911 and the giant 800-foot steel arch span A. Piatt Andrew Bridge built in 1950 as part of the completion of Route 128. As Gloucester celebrates its quadricentennial in 2023, this book will be part of the 400 years of unique memories that only these three bridges can provide.

About the Author

Paul St. Germain has been a resident of Rockport, Massachusetts for the past twenty-seven years. His interest in the Cape Ann area began in 1999 when he was asked to join the Thacher Island Association’s Board of Directors, eventually elected President in 2002. In 2000, he researched and wrote the successful nomination application resulting in the designation of the Cape Ann Light Station on Thacher Island as a National Historic Landmark by the Interior Department’s National Park Service. He has written four books in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series; Sandy Bay Harbor of Refuge and the Navy, Cape Ann Granite, Lighthouses and Lifesaving Stations on Cape Ann, and Twin Lights of Thacher Island. And two for the History Press: Saving Straitsmouth Island a History, and Twin Lights Tonic, Cape Ann’s Timeless Soda Pop. A graduate of Boston University and a master’s degree recipient from Northeastern University, he has held several senior-level marketing and advertising positions of major international athletic footwear and soft drink manufacturers. Paul St. Germain is also a board member of the Sandy Bay Historical Society as well as the Thacher Island Association. And when he is not focusing on fundraising efforts for the preservation of structures on both Thacher and Straitsmouth Islands, he volunteers during the summer months to do carpentry work on both coastal islands.

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