The Port Deposit Bridge (also known as the Susquehanna River Bridge or Rock Run Toll Bridge) was the earliest bridge crossing of the
Susquehanna River below
Columbia, Pennsylvania
Columbia, formerly Wright's Ferry, is a borough (town) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 10,222. It is southeast of Harrisburg, on the east (left) bank of the Susquehanna River, ac ...
, providing the first reliable link between the northern and southern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The bridge was also the fifth and last of
Theodore Burr
Theodore Burr (August 16, 1771 – November 22, 1822) was an inventor from Torrington, Connecticut, who was credited with the Burr Arch Truss bridge design. He designed and built one of the first bridges across the Hudson River and several b ...
's Susquehanna crossings. The wooden
covered bridge
A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...
was constructed just north of
Port Deposit, Maryland
Port Deposit is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River near its discharge into the Chesapeake Bay. The population was 653 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Port Deposit is located ...
, between 1817 and 1818 and lasted until 1857. It was built and operated by the
Susquehanna Bridge and Bank Company.
History
The site for the bridge was surveyed in 1813.
The bridge crossed from north of Port Deposit to just below Rock Run stream in
Harford County
Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...
. The bridge crossed Steel, Roberts and Wood Islands. Construction of the bridge was started in 1817.
The bridge was constructed by Theodore Burr, who had just completed work on four Susquehanna bridges in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The bridge design used his
Burr arch truss. "This ultimate achievement of Burr's on the Susquehanna, having in all eighteen 200-foot trussed arch wooden spans, eight between the west shore and a first island, two between that and a second island, and eight more between that and the east shore, and a total length
of 4,170 feet, was to be performed in two years. For the years between 1812 and 1818 Burr's trussed arch had been an increasing
triumph.".
[{{cite web , last= Cummings , first= Hubertus M. , url= http://cip.cornell.edu/DPubS/Repository/1.0/Disseminate/psu.ph/1133213421/body/pdf , title= Theodore Burr and His Bridges Across the Susquehanna , accessdate=2006-08-05] The bridge opened in 1818.
On 1 January 1823, friction from an iron shod sleigh caused a fire which burned large portions of the bridge.
It was rebuilt and back in operation by 1828 or 1830.
The bridge operated until 1854 when a herd of cattle caused two spans to collapse.
It remained closed and a large section of the eastern span was destroyed by the spring flood of 1857.
It was superseded by the
Conowingo Bridge, which reopened in 1859, further upstream.
The ruins of the abutments are still clearly visible from the western shore o
from above The ''Jersey Toll House'', located at the southwestern end of the bridge still exists as part of
Susquehanna State Park.
See also
*
List of crossings of the Susquehanna River
List of Susquehanna River crossings proceeding upstream from the river mouth at the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, United States, generally northward through Pennsylvania toward the main branch headwaters in New York. The West Branch crossings are l ...
References
External links
Drawing of bridge from Susquehanna Bank and Bridge Co. $5 Note
Covered bridges in Maryland
Bridges over the Susquehanna River
Bridges completed in 1818
Wooden bridges in Maryland
Road bridges in Maryland
Former toll bridges in Maryland
Burr Truss bridges in the United States
Bridges in Cecil County, Maryland