Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced that the Ransome Japanese Bridge on Shelter Island has been listed on the State Register of Historic Places. This bridge is highly significant as one of only two known surviving bridges built by Ernest L. Ransome, a pioneer in reinforced concrete construction. It has also been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. State and National Register listings can assist property owners in revitalizing buildings, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.

The 60-foot-long bridge, which follows a low bell curve in profile, is painted red and white and sits on Clark’s Cove. It was reportedly built in the early 20th Century and is located at “Presdeleau”, the former summer estate of Francis Marion Smith. Known as “the Borax King,” Smith was a leader in the mining and marketing of Borax, a whitening agent that is still used in cleaning detergents, cosmetics and more.

Ransome, a renowned engineer and reinforced concrete innovator, designed two refineries for Smith so that the miner could expand the processing of raw minerals that formed the borax product. That business association extended to the private domain when Ransome built a Japanese-inspired bridge with reinforced concrete, which was uncommon in its day. He employed iron reinforcing bars composed of twisted “rebars” known as “Ransome bars,” which had a square cross-section, set in hand-mixed concrete, and hand-formed and cast in place. The surface of the bridge deck is cast concrete impressed with a brick pattern.

The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archeology and culture of New York State and the nation. There are more than 120,000 historic buildings, structures and sites throughout the state listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as components of historic districts. Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.