BRIDGESPOTTING

There is some controversy and disagreement regarding the oldest bridge in the United States. You will find websites making this claim for the Frankford Avenue Bridge in Philadelphia, the Glen Mill Bridge in Rowley, Massachusetts, and the nearby Choate Bridge in Ipswich. The listing on several websites of these three bridges as the oldest in the United States is problematic, and demonstrates two important principles in researching the history of bridges. One is that there are gray areas along the continuum - from the original construction to original plus additions, to reconstruction, to demolition/replacement. The second is how easily incorrect information can proliferate on the internet.

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The small stone arch at Glen Mill, reported on some websites as having been constructed in 1643, is certainly an old and pretty little stone arch. Except for the outline of the arch itself, which is made up of roughly hewn rectangular blocks, the rest of the bridge is a higgledy-piggledy pile of round stones and boulders. The bridge is only about 20 feet long and still carries traffic today, if you can call being used as a driveway next to someone’s house “traffic.” The reputed age of this bridge is apparently the result of its location on the same property as the Glen Mills Historic District, which is on US Route 1 outside of Rowley. This is documented as the first site of a fulling mill in the English Colonies, established in 1643. The area includes a cute, preserved mill building with historical plaques. Apparently, the presence of the bridge on this property resulted in people assuming that the structures on the property, including the bridge, were all original to the 1643 date. However, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation historic bridge inventory website lists the date as “probably” 1860.

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The Choate Bridge, in Ipswich, is only about ten miles from Glen Mill. Choate Bridge is well documented as being original, dating from 1764, although it has since been expanded on one side. One stone on the parapet on the west side of the bridge has been inscribed “Choate Bridge, Built by Town & County, 1764.” The bridge crosses the Ipswich River on two arches and is about 100 feet long.

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The Frankford Avenue Bridge in Philadelphia, dating from 1697, is probably the oldest bridge in the United States. The historical plaque at the bridge explains that the location was a trail crossing for the Lenape Indians and then was part of the King’s Highway, one of the earliest roads in the United States. The bridge was already more than 80 years old when it was used in 1781 by American and French troops on the Rochambeau Route, during their march to Yorktown.

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The bridges are discussed in more detail in Chapter 2 of Bridgespotting: A Guide to Bridges that Connect People, Places, and Times.