Boiling Springs Road: Iron Bridge

by Ralph Brandt in History, September 2, 2009

Here is the site of an iron bridge that was removed about 1960.

There will be no pictures of the iron bridge on the Boiling Springs Road because I didn’t take any at that time. But I crossed that bridge nearly four thousand times. No kidding. It was on the way between my home near Mt. Victory Church and my school at Boiling Springs PA. From the time I was in first grade till it was replaced during my senior year in school I crossed it nearly 360 times each year.

It was one of the many iron bridges in the area. Several of them still stand and there are pictures of those in this collection. I have listed links to them below. One that still stands is being allowed to deteriorate so PDOT can have an excuse to replace it.

Most of these were built around the turn of the century, more than a few were initially used for horse traffic – they existed before cars. I have found the plaque on most of them giving not only the date built but also the names of the Township Supervisors – the name in Pennsylvania for the elected officials who lead a township. They are the equivalent to the town or city council for more urban areas.

Most of these bridges were one lane and in this case this one was a hazard because of the layout of the road.

Remember as you look at these pictures that the bridge was replaced some time in 1960-61. Both efforts by the contractor and nature have obscured some of the old road and the bridge was totally demolished including much of the foundations but there are still vestages. I will be trying to get to a place to photograph the foundations some time soon.

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Picture by Author

I am standing on the Boiling Springs side of the old bridge. If you were to follow the road behind me it would turn to my right (left curve) and go about 300 yards to the edge of the creek. Some of that road still exists. If you look out in the distance you will see the old road turns to the right and meets the new road at about a 90 degree angle. At one time the old road continued. The new road has the left curve sooner and then follows about 250 yards to the bridge. Note the phone and power poles along the left and right sides of the old road. The phone wires were not relocated. The one power pole is in the green triangle to the right of the old road where the two roads meet. That pole was not disturbed. The bus stop and the trees along the right side were not there at that time.

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Picture by Author

I have turned and am now looking toward the creek. The portion of the road along the barn is gone but we can see its path. The telephone cable crossed the old road at the corner which was at the edge of the road that shows, it was a dirt road at the time that follows the path of the hard road to the right. The bridge approach turned toward the creek here, you can see a remnant to the left of the wagon and then passed between the trees and the barn. It then followed to the right of the telephone wires to the edge of the creek which is near the middle of the right edge of the picture.