Cos Cob coast no stranger to disaster

The coastline of Cos Cob is filled with beauty and steeped in history. It's also had more than its fair share of disaster.

Its scenic shores host many luxurious facilities and neighborhoods, but what many longtime residents recall when strolling alongside the sandy coast is the disaster that occurred when the Mianus River Bridge collapsed June 28, 1983.

Now, 26 years later, historians say it is still the memory of that horrific bridge collapse that is the most feared and recalled event in the history of the Cos Cob coast.

"It was just devastating, both for the individuals that lost their lives, but also for the ones who lost their neighborhoods," said Anne Young, archivist for the Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich, which is near Cos Cob harbor.

Young described how, even after the initial disaster, there was a long-standing effect on neighborhoods as construction crews continued to come in and rebuild.

"The houses used to shake," said Young. "It was like a ripple effect that lasted longer than the actual catastrophe itself."

It was just after 1 a.m. when a 100-foot section of the bridge carrying northbound traffic on the Connecticut Turnpike -- aka Interstate 95 -- collapsed, sending truck driver Harold W. Bracy Jr., 45, of Slidell, La., plunging to his death. Two others were killed in the collapse, including Stamford residents Luis Zapata, 31, and Regina Fisher, 21, who drowned when their BMW plummeted off the bridge. The cause

was later determined to be the result of a failed pin-and-hanger assembly.

Young said the event made town residents question the safety of all the bridges and is relived every time a similar incident occurs elsewhere.

"Anything that parallels that catastrophe, we do kind of relive it," said Young.

While the bridge collapse was by far the greatest tragedy for residents living along the Cos Cob line, a separate disaster occurred decades earlier on Oct. 2, 1919, when the former location of the Indian Harbor Yacht Club burned to the ground.

Headlines from the Greenwich Graphic and News newspaper -- what today is Greenwich Time -- read "Indian Harbor Club burned -- guests taken from upper windows down scrawling ladder -- loss $100,000," according to a book from the historical society.

Everything from furniture to trophies to maps were ruined and 12 guests staying there at the time had to be rescued from the building. Though no deaths or injuries were reported, all 12 guests lost their clothing and money.

Tens of thousands of dollars were later raised through fundraising efforts with the YMCA. On Memorial Day 1921, the club reopened, but the fire remains a big piece of the history for the century-old yacht club.