Upes (River) Street and Kurshinsky Bridge

Kurshinsky Bridge in the 1920s

Kurshinsky Bridge in 2016

From the Old Cemetery along Kapu (Cemetery) Street we reach Avotu (Springwater) Street and along it we reach Upes (River) Street, which was built only at the beginning of the 20th century, when the owner of the Cardboard Factory Gertrude Lindenberg bought the “Kalngali” house on the left bank of the Tebra River from the owner of the Castle Manor. At the same time, she built a bridge over the river Tebra at her own expense, which Lindenberg needed to connect her factory with her own country house as the driving way had to cross the river. However, in the Council documents, the name of Kushinsky, the owner of the adjacent houses on № 10 and № 8 Upes Street, is given to the bridge in a slightly changed surname and in the singular - Kurshinsky Bridge.

This bridge was the official boundary from which the Dzirnavu (Mill) Pond began (see – Castle Manor Mill Pond and Watermill).

Upes Street and Kurshinsky Bridge in 1934. gadā

Upes Street and Kurshinsky Bridge in 2014. gadā

Until the beginning of the 20th century, all the plots on the left side of modern Upes (River) Street, including Avotu (Springwater) Street, had one mortgage number, i.e., it was all one plot of land, which was exchanged from Emil von Lieven (1813-1881) by the District Judge von Roenne in 1856 and in 1867 sold to carpenter Fricis Ratnieks for 1,200 Rubles.

Ratnieks built the first house on this plot of land on the bank of the Tebra on the current № 10 Upes (River) Street, where until 1917 there was a tannery. Starting from 1908, Ratnieks started to divide and sell his large plot of land. Then several owners of houses on the right side of Kalvenes Street expanded the boundaries of their plots towards the river. He kept a plot of land for himself with two houses he built on № 10 Upes Street, which was bought from Ratnieks by his sister Caroline Kuschinsky in 1911 for 1,000 Rubles, but in 1925 it was inherited by three Caroline’s daughters: Jenni and Lisette Julia Kuschinsky und Emma Alma Stengrevica - each 1/3. Stengrevica built a house on the same plot of land in 1926 № 8, the end of which is shown in the photo.

The residential houses in the distance are on Avotu (Springwater) Street.

Today, the bridge of Upes (River) Street is still the Kurshinsky Bridge. In 2010, its renovation works were carried out, reconstructing the bridge deck and railings.

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