Tuesday, September 05, 2023

Footbridge Mystery

 The Mystery of the Bloomfield Bridge is Tyler Vigen's story of how a particular footbridge in Minnesota came to be built. He became obsessed with why it was built, as it seemed to serve no purpose.

It is not  consequential story, but it is an interesting one. The final reveal is not shocking, but will elicit a wry smile. Shoulda-seen-it-coming. It is not only interesting in observing why a person can get obsessed with such a thing and what lengths they will go to to get an answer, but also windows into an earlier time, the odd twists of local history, how decisions get made, and what records are kept and why.

It's rather an extreme example of that second part of Chesterton's Fence, of finding out why something was built in the first place.  Sometimes that ain't easy.

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