Mankins Crossing

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do it justice. About a hundred yards west of where you're sitting right now, the San Gabriel River holds a crossing with a name and a history worth knowing. Mankins Crossing.

It goes back to 1849, when a pioneer settler named Samuel Mankins purchased land along that river. The river did him a favor right off, because the limestone bed sitting at the bottom of the San Gabriel made for a natural, convenient place to get across. Solid footing.

Farmers in the area took notice, and that crossing became a thread in the fabric of a whole little community that grew up nearby, with a school, a church, and a cotton gin all within reach. Life had a rhythm out here, and that crossing was part of it. Then 1914 rolls around, and somebody decided to formalize things.

A concrete and gravel causeway went in, giving folks a proper structure to carry them over the water. That held for a while. But 1931 brought an upgrade, when the State Highway Department came through and replaced that causeway with a concrete bridge.

Twenty-seven years that bridge served its purpose. Then in 1958, the Highway Department built a new bridge on higher ground out at Highway 29, and just like that, the old Mankins Crossing bridge stepped out of its working life and into something maybe better. It became a recreational site, a place area residents claimed for their own leisure.

Samuel Mankins bought some land along a river in 1849. He couldn't have known the limestone under that water would still be drawing people to the same spot more than a century later.

What the marker says

(100 yards west) This historic crossing on the San Gabriel River was named for pioneer settler Samuel Mankins, who purchased land along the river in 1849. The limestone bed in the river provided a convenient crossing for area farmers. A nearby community included a school, church, and cotton gin. A 1914 concrete and gravel causeway was replaced by a State Highway Department concrete bridge in 1931. After the Highway Department built a new bridge on higher ground at Highway 29 in 1958, the Mankins Crossing bridge became a popular recreational site for area residents.