Huntington River Walk now has a kiosk which includes the official town walking map.  This walking path follows the Westfield River from behind Town Hall on Route 20 to Lower Russell Road with it’s historic homes.  The old foot bridge connects to old Chester Road, once Route 20. Huntington has changed here in the new center which was made possible by the Western railroad.

Main St. no longer begins at the foot of Blandford Hill and travels in an almost straight line over the “Town Bridge” across the railroad tracks and over “Cole’s Hill”. The construction of the Robert Cross Memorial Bridge completed in 1938, connecting Russell St. and Main St., cut Main St. almost in half, doing away with a big wooden building at each side of the former bridge.

The building on the west side was Huntington’s first restaurant and ice cream parlor, featuring the new style “college ice” and serving “hot chocolate” to the shoppers, and operated by the late Theoharis Diamant. This place of business was on the street level and below it Besaw’s Meat Market and a Chinese Laundry. On the East end the main attraction was Crowther’s Bakery. The rest of the building housed at various times a meat market, a cobblers shop and a plumbing shop. Upstairs the Grange and Daughters of Isabella held their meetings. Also sacrificed to the splendid new bridge were several houses and Griswold’s General Store. This new bridge put an end to the dangerous grade crossing by providing an overpass. Railroad St., a narrow dead end road became Route 20 in 1922 and the previous road to Chester and points west became the “Old Chester Road”. From Huntington Centennial.

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