Regency Suspension Bridge

Hanna Valley's first post office opened in 1876 with Jim Hanna, one of Jesse Hanna's sons, as postmaster. It closed in 1882 and reopened in 1884, when the town had fifty people, but postal officials rejected the name Hanna Valley because another Texas town already had it, and the community became Regency. By 1895 it had more than 200 residents, a church, a general store, a flour mill and gin, a physician and a constable. The post office was gone by the early 1930s, the last store closed in 1971, and twenty-five people remained in 1990 and 2000.

What the plaque says

Regency Suspension Bridge (near extinct town of Regency, 4.4 mi. S) This area's first Colorado River bridge was built in 1903 between Mills and San Saba counties to serve area ranchers and farmers. The bridge fell into the river on May 9, 1924, killing Raymond Burns Jernigan (b. June 28, 1914), his horse, and several cattle. Its replacement was destroyed in a 1936 flood. Erected in 1939 by 90 percent hand labor, the Regency Suspension Bridge became the pride of the area. Youths gathered there in the 1940s to picnic, dance, and sing. Bypassed by paved roads, it survives as one of the last suspension bridges in Texas. (1976, 1997)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Buffalo-Ebony Cemetery — 2.5 mi
• Rural Communities of Western Mills County — 3.9 mi
• Jackson Massacre — 6.9 mi
• Ratler, Texas and the Renfro Dam — 7.7 mi