How Cassels' Bridge became Castle Bridge

The current incarnation of Castle Bridge that spans Lake Rhodhiss, linking Burke and Caldwell counties, was completed and opened to the public during the early days of the Kennedy Administration.

Prior to that, at least two other bridges spanned the same distance, but both of those were named Cassels’ Bridge.

Ric Humphries, a lifelong resident of Rutherford College whose grandmother was a Cassels, pointed out the discrepancy to me and provided some historical documentation as to how the name change might have inadvertently occurred.

Ric passed along to me an article written by one R.M. Haynes detailing a bit of the bridges’ history.

We don’t know who this R.M. Haynes was.

We don’t know when he wrote the article.

And we don’t know who his audience was.

We do know, however, that he believed some acknowledgement of the Cassels family and of the bridges’ original names should be made — a proposition that Ric wholeheartedly agrees with.

But back to Haynes’ article.

As Haynes notes, “Prior to 1898 there were no bridges across the Catawba River in Burke County. If one dared to cross the river, he either let his horse do the swimming while he clung to the mane,” or went to one of the river’s fords.

The Greenlee Ford, located near where Judge’s Riverside BBQ used to stand, was the most famous of these fords, but a long way from Rutherford College, which was then known as “Happy Home.”

Other fords were located at “Lovelady,” near the current Valdese water treatment plant, and at Rhodhiss near where the dam that created Lake Rhodhiss was later constructed.

The first bridge, named Cassels’ Bridge, was built as the 19th century became the 20th century. It was primarily made of wood and was completely swept away in the Great Flood of 1916.

Work began on replacing the destroyed bridge almost immediately, and the new structure, made primarily of steel, was built above the high flood mark.

That bridge, too, was named Cassels’ Bridge.

Haynes believed, and Ric concurs, that the bridges took their name from a John D. Cassels who lived on the Rutherford College side of the Catawba.

Haynes writes this of Cassels:

“(He) was a strong representative of the eastern Burke populace, being well respected and called ‘Squire’ to honor his position. He strongly influenced the procurement of the bridge and was later one of the founders of the Happy Home Power and Light Company.”

And yet, when work on the current wider, safer, and more modern bridge was completed in 1961, it was dubbed Castle Bridge.

What happened?

Both the unknown writer Haynes and Ric have a plausible explanation.

Ted Cassels, returning to Burke County after serving in World War II, established a popular eating joint in Valdese that was known across the region. But the name he selected for the establishment was “Castle Cafe.”

Later, as more families in the area became interested in boating and fishing, the Castle Bridge Boating and Fishing Club was born, located on the present site of the Castle Bridge Marina.

“The original Cassels name just seems to have been forgotten,” said Ric. “And there are no longer any Cassels living in Rutherford College or Burke County that I am aware of.”

Ric does not expect the Department of Transportation to change the name back to Cassels’ Bridge or for the new bridge expected to link Burke and Caldwell sometime in the next five years to take the Cassel name either.

“But I would like to see us keep the stories of our heritage alive,” he said. “If we don’t remember, we lose things over time. And I think if we forget Cassels’ Bridge, we’ve lost an important part of our town’s history.”

Jennifer Icard-Abernethy, a member of the Rutherford College Historical Society, agrees that it is important to remember the history of Cassels’ Bridge.

“It’s part of our past, part of our heritage,” she said. “And if we don’t remember, and teach our younger people about it, it’s part of our heritage we will lose.”