BRIDGES: Clark's Ferry Bridge Across the Susquehanna

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I know I’ve crossed this bridge many times when I was with my maternal grandparents. My grandfather would want to go “up country” to where he was born and raised. My ancestors go back hundreds of years in Perry County, Pennsylvania and over 100 in Dauphin County. So this bridge would have been one we crossed when heading to a church pot luck my grandfather was fond of. I still have relatives living on the other side of this bridge, but I fear I will never make another trip back to Pennsylvania. I do miss it.

This bridge was replaced in 1986. I've crossed it a few times.

Originally, from what I’m able to find, there was a ferry here established around 1788 by a man named Clark.

(SOURCE: History of Perry County, Pennyslvania)

There was a bridge which preceded this bridge.

One of the oldest crossings over the Susquehanna River is at Clark's Ferry at the southern tip of Duncan Island in Reed Twp., Dauphin County. This location where the Juniata River empties into the Susquehanna River, east of Duncannon, was called  Queenashawakee" by the American Indians, according to "The History and Topography of Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Bedford, Adams, and Perry Counties" written by I. Daniel Rupp and published in 1846.

The site became a fording place on the Huntingdon and Pittsburgh paths for the earliest traders and settlers on their trek westward. The first ferry was established by Daniel Clark in 1788, passed onto his son, John Clark, and then to his son, Robert Clark. In 1808, the ferry became part of the stage coach line to Huntingdon.

In May 1818, a commission was organized to build a bridge across the Susquehanna. Bridge building in those days was an arduous task, and it was not until 1828-29 that the first permanent span was opened.

The bridge belonged to the commonwealth, which built a dam just south of the structure. The dam created a pool of water which was used as part of the state's early canal system. A mule towing-path was attached to the bridge. The covered bridge incurred the ravages of fire and flood but was repaired each time. Most of the bridge was destroyed by fire May 14, 1846, but it was rebuilt.

In 1857, the state sold the entire canal system to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which in 1867, transferred the canal system to a newly organized subsidiary, the Pennsylvania Canal Co.

After the abandonment of the canal system in the early part of the 20th century, the canal company sold the bridge to the Clarks Ferry Bridge Co. in 1915. (In some references Clarks is spelled Clark's.)

The president of the Clarks Ferry Bridge Co. was Harrisburg entrepreneur William Jennings, president of Commonwealth Trust Co. His longtime business associate, Christian W. Lynch, was vice president.

William Wills and P.F. Duncan were secretary and treasurer, respectively. Wills and Duncan were principals in Standard Novelty Co. in Duncannon, which was founded in 1904 and manufactured the famous Lightning Glider sled. The bridge was 2.088 feet long, divided into 10 spans, nine of which were 212 feet long and one 180 feet long. In 1888, it had the reputation of being the longest covered wooden bridge in the world.

Experts estimate that more than 1 million board feet of choice white pine lumber was used in the bridge. The lumber was cut from logs rafted down the river from the great white pine country along the West Branch of the Susquehanna.

The covered bridge served well in its time, but on Feb. 2, 1924, Jennings announced that it would be replaced. He said that span was barely wide enough to permit the crossing of one vehicle at a time.

(SOURCE: Harrisburg Patriot-News)

At one point the bridge shown above was a toll bridge. I live in an area where there are a lot of toll bridges. It’s sometimes fun to think about which route to take around the San Francisco Bay and not have to pay a toll. It’s always a good way to start an argument.


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With so many credit references on the back of this post card I'll just settle with it being ultimately a Curt Teich card since his logo appears on it.

BRIDGES: Donner Lake Bridge

This bridge is personal for me. I love the view of Donner Lake from this angle. My family owned land a few miles west of this bridge for almost 40 years. They built a cabin which we used all year long.

In the summer I loved driving along this road with the windows down, the warm summer mountain breeze flowing through the car. On this road you pass by a stone wall that was built by Chinese labor when they were constructing the Central Pacific Railroad. There's a rock that calls out to rock climbers for much of the year. You'll find cyclists climbing from the lake to the peak still high above where this shot was taken.




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At some point a bus went off this road into the gully right before the bridge. That bus lay there for decades slowly rusting, its once vivid colors turning muted. There was also an old rusted hulk of a car. Understand that at one time this was the route across the Sierras from California to Nevada. The eventual Interstate 80 was built on the hillside to the left where you can see what was possibly the beginning of the construction.

And of course this is the lake made famous by its namesake, the Donner Party. If you don't know the history of the Donner family and their fellow travelers you can read about it here. And if you're going to be in the area be sure to visit the California State Park where you can walk a path through the area where the families lived during the dreadful winter.

At the eastern end of the lake is the bustling town of Gateway with Truckee nearby. Both towns have changed dramatically and look nothing like what I fell in love with in the mid-1960s. At that time neither town would have been called bustling. Many an evening was spent at a restaurant in Truckee flirting with the waiters who were at heart nothing more than ski bums. And many a late night I had to come back over the pass to the cabin in a snowstorm. Now I'm older and wiser.

BRIDGES: Beaver Creek Bridge in South Dakota

Today we're in South Dakota. I have actually been on this bridge, which is not something I can claim about the three previous bridges.




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I quite enjoyed the Black Hills of South Dakota. It's beautiful and the ride through Custer State Park is an adventure when you go through some of the tunnels. I watched a tour bus come through a particularly narrow tunnel. The driver first got out on the other side, pushed in his mirrors, then started inching through the tunnel. I was standing with a group of people and we all stared in disbelief that he was attempting this. When the bus finally got through we all waved at the driver and passengers and they waved back at us. Later on down the road I was able to talk to the driver who told me he did this every week, multiple times, and had never hit the side. I told him, "You're a better man than me Gunga Din."

And now a little historical perspective about the bridge.

The Beaver Creek Bridge spans one of two perennial streams that flow into Wind Cave National Park. It is a deck arch bridge built of concrete and steel. It is 225 feet (69m) long and sits 115 feet (35m) above the canyon floor. The purpose of constructing the bridge in 1929 was to provide travelers a more suitable access to the newly developing Custer State Park to the north of Wind Cave National Park.

One of the significant accomplishments of the builders of the bridge was to create the illusion that the concrete arches rise naturally from the rock walls on opposite sides of the canyon. The nature of this bridge makes it historically significant. It is the only bridge of its particular arch type in the State of South Dakota. It is also only one of three "most significant bridges" in the Rocky Mountain region of the National Park System. Construction of this bridge was made possible through the efforts of Peter Norbeck, U.S. Senator from South Dakota. Senator Norbeck was also involved with the development of Custer State Park and scenic highways within the Black Hills. (SOURCE: National Park Service)

To see previous posts about bridges click on "bridge" in the labels below.

BRIDGES: Railroad Bridge to Quaker Oats Company

This bridge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa apparently dates back to 1898. That's the only information I have. When I looked at the card I'll admit I was wondering what the bridge was used for. I thought it might be for cars, but trains seemed more logical.




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Here is a shot of the bridge today taken by PolarisFinder.

(SOURCE: Panoramio; PolarisFinder)

I love old railroad bridges. They look quiet, almost waiting for the rumble to start down the tracks. A bridge that only comes alive every once in awhile. The rest of the time it's just a quiet structure. Can't you just hear it? The slow rumble as it approaches the bridge from either side, especially in darkness, headlight shining through the beams and cutting through the river in jagged shapes.

To see more bridges click on "bridge" in the labels below.

BRIDGES: Across the East River to Manhattan

So do you think our intrepid travelers from yesterday would have made it as far as the Brooklyn Bridge? This photo was probably taken sometime between 1918 and 1925 when the American Art Publishing Company existed. Finkelstein & Son created the card.




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So which of the two Finkelstein's, father or son, had the propensity to climb things? Which one was not afraid of heights? Being that I cannot find any historical information about either of them, I guess we’ll never know.

Here's another view of the bridge by the Finkelstein's. This night view is also featured on page 85 in the book Postcards of the Night by John A. Jakle.

(SOURCE: The Strawfoot)

Another bridge tomorrow. 

BRIDGES: Across the Gila River at the Gillespie Dam

What is it about bridges? There's something wonderful about them no matter the size.

I can remember crossing a tiny bridge in England that had a toll keeper. The problem was that the bridge was so small the backend of the car was almost still on the other side when the front was almost off the bridge. I still wonder if the guy built the bridge himself and was just pulling a fast one.

Then there's the Golden Gate bridge. A stunning bridge with magnificent views. However, more than once as I've crossed it I've suddenly had the passing thought of, "Oh geez, what if the big one hits right now?" You can't live in California without occasionally wondering if the next moment is IT. I hope to not be on any of the bridges when it happens.




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This bridge in Arizona has an interesting history. The post card is from the 1920s. The following is from a marker placed at the dam.

In 1909, Arizona's Territorial Legislature created the Office of the Territorial Engineer to develop a system of roads connecting Arizona's major cities and towns and improve the delivery of the US Mail. The automobile was steadily gaining in popularity and rutted, dirt wagon roads were no longer suitable for this new means of transportation. Shortly after Arizona Statehood in 1912, the State Engineer surveyed a major East-West transportation route across Southern Arizona between the towns of Clifton and Yuma. This early highway route followed the Gila River west from Phoenix, turning south near the small town of Arlington where the Hassayampa River and Gila River meet. The original highway route then turned westerly through the then popular hot spring resort town of Agua Caliente and forded the Gila River near the town of Dome until 1915, when a bridged crossing was constructed further upstream at Antelope Hill. This highway route, however, proved to be unreliable due to frequent washouts during heavy rains and flooding.

In 1921, the highway route was realigned to ford the Gila River just below the newly constructed Gillespie Dam. Heading south toward Gila Bend, the new route was known as the Phoenix-Yuma Highway. The following year, the Arizona Highway Department built a concrete apron on the downstream side of the Gillespie Dam to help automobiles to cross the Gila River. This crossing point also provide to be unreliable, as high water often made passage difficult. Between 1922 and 1926, large trucks, tractors and horse teams were frequently used to pull automobiles across the apron of the dam.

The Arizona Highway Department set about designing an all-weather bridged structure in 1925 to span the Gila River at this location. Construction of the Gillespie Dam Bridge began in February 1926 and later that same year, the American Association of State Highway Officials adopted our present day highway numbering system. When the new Gillespie Dam Bridge opened to traffic on August 1, 1927, it was officially designated part of the early southern continental US 80 Highway.

Lee Moor Construction of El Paso, Texas built the nine-span steel truss bridged crossing of the Gila River for a cost of $320,000. The 1,662-foot-long Gillespie Dam Bridge was unique for its time and one of the longest bridges and the largest steel structure in the state. All of Arizona's major bridges before this were built using reinforced concrete arches which proved to be no match for swollen, flooding rivers. The new design produced a more durable and flexible bridge that could better withstand the force of flood waters.

Bridge design elements include a connected series of rigid through trusses weighing 2.3 million pounds. The bridge has a total of nine steel truss spans - five 200-foot-long trusses centered over the river channel, flanked by two 160-foot-long trusses at each end. Each steel truss features a camelback web configuration with a built-up box beam for the upper and lower steel members. The trusses are supported by solid concrete abutments and pier columns placed on bedrock at a depth of 25 feet, with the deepest pier extending 43 feet below the riverbed.

The new bridge and US 80 Highway through the Arlington Valley became part of the National "Ocean-to-Ocean Highway". Gillespie Dam Bridge carried US 80 transcontinental traffic from 1927 to 1956, when US 80 Highway was shifted east to Rainbow Valley and the Arlington Valley stretch was decommissioned as an interstate route. The operation, care and ownership of the bridge were then transferred from the State of Arizona to Maricopa County. (SOURCE: HMdb.org)

To read more visit The Historical Marker Database.

When you traveled this road there was no fancy motel awaiting you. There was no nauseating fast food joint with corporate ownership. There might be a flea bag and a greasy spoon somewhere down the road. Travel was an adventure and a bumpy ride was had by all.