Reader Nancy Cook asked these questions about the Murray Morgan Bridge:

I’d like to ask about the little house on the 11th Street Bridge. Is that where the bridgekeeper lived? If so, where will s/he live now? There is an even smaller house a level below the bridgekeeper’s house. Is that where the bridgekeeper’s dog lived? In the seven years I’ve lived in this area, I’ve been asking myself these questions, and have even toyed with the idea that perhaps in Tacoma, bridge trolls live above the bridges instead of under them. Unfortunately, the troll theory still doesn’t explain the little doghouse.

I just received an answer from Kip Wylie, the maintenance supervisor for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. His answer is after the jump:

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These are very funny questions. As the troll, I much prefer living UNDER a bridge, and this is why I moved my operations over to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. And then with all that noisy construction, I've had to stay in hiding for the past 4 years. Thank God, or Gollum, they'll be leaving soon so I can get back to my business.

Actually, the large of those houses on the Murray Morgan Bridge is for the Machinery Room. It's were all the gears and lifting motors are. The smaller house a bit lower is the actual operators station. It has the lifting and lowering controls. In that larger house, there is also a side room that I believe is where Murray Morgan wrote most of his book about early Seattle "Skid Road". It looks to be the only place that could fit a desk and some comfort. He was a full time bridge tender in the 1950s.