Charles River Bridge

The Proprietors of the Charles River Bridge Company erected the Charles River Bridge in 1785. It was used to link Charleston to Boston. A toll charge was placed on the bridge for forty years under the corporation charter issued by the state of Massachusetts. The bridge opened on June 17, 1786. In 1792 the toll was extended to seventy years. At the end of the seventy years the bridge would belong to the commonwealth. The state issued another corporation …

…s founding fathers was to “promote the general welfare,” so the rights of community and private property have to be carefully guarded. New technology is important to the growth of our nation. If the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the Charles River Bridge, then they would have to reaffirm the old methods of transportation and never develop new forms. There is no telling where our technology would be today if this had happened.