The Bridge From Dewart To Allenwood

The wooden "wagon bridge" connecting Dewart to Allenwood.

This bridge was built to replace the one destroyed in the 1889 flood.  It was  then destroyed in the flood of May 1894.  In 1895, an iron bridge was built.  It stood until 1990, when a new cement bridge replaced it.

"The river bridge sustained severe damage in 1865; it was rebuilt, but was entirely demolished by the flood of June, 1889, and has been again rebuilt." - Bells History Of Northumberland County

February 1892

No Free Bridge At Dewart

Fred & Kate Goldy were the toll keepers at the Allenwood Dewart Bridge

In 1894, the "Wagon Bridge at Dewart" was lost in the flood that May.  In August, the bridge had not yet been rebuilt, and many were campaigning to have it built down river, connecting Watsontown to White Deer, instead.

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In 1895, the wooden toll bridge was replaced by the new 4 span iron bridge.

"Spanning the Susquehanna River at a long-established historic river crossing, the Allenwood Bridge is one of the oldest and longest spans crossing that river. Its builder, the Groton Bridge and Manufacturing Company"

The Northumberland County Side

The Union County Side

In 1924, The bridge was to be replanked, at a cost of  $1,750

The historic iron bridge was replaced with a cement bridge in 1990.

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Find More Stories & History Of Dewart Here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/06/dewart-pennsylvania.html

And more local history from the Susquehanna Valley here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/p/history.html

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HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE HAER NO. PA- 130

Location: spanning the west branch ofthe

Susquehanna River on State Route 44,

Section 004, between Allenwood,

Union County, and Dewart,

Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

UTM: 18.341280.4552220

Quad: Allenwood

Dates of

Construction:

Present Owner:

Present Use:

Significance:

Project Information:

1895-1896

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Department of Transportation

Transportation and Safety Building

Commonwealth Avenue and Forester Street

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120

Vehicular bridge.

Spanning the Susquehanna River at a long-established

historic river crossing, the Allenwood Bridge is one of

the oldest and longest spans crossing that river. Its

builder, the Groton Bridge and Manufacturing

Company, was a nationally prominent bridge

manufacturer from 1877 through 1920.

This documentation was performed from June 1988

through March 1989 to fulfill the Memorandum of

Agreement by the Pennsylvania Department of

Transportation as a mitigation measure prior to

demolition of the structure.

Wilbur Smith Associates (Pittsburgh, PA) and

P.AC. Spero & Company (Baltimore, MD)

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAER NO. PA-i30(Page 2)

The Allenwood Bridge is a two-lane through Pratt truss bridge spanning the West

Branch of Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River, approximately 5,800 feet north of the

mouth of Delaware Run. It consists of a five-span, pin-connected Pratt truss bridge

measuring 966 feet in length. The bridge carries State Route 44 and provides a

crossing between the communities of Allenwood (Gregg Township, Union County) in the

west and Dewart (Delaware Township, Northumberland County) in the east. Route 44

connects U.S. Route 15 on the west and State Route 405 on the east.

The fourth bridge to be located at the site, the present Allenwood Bridge was

constructed in 1895-1896 on the abutments and piers of a previous structure. The

bridge comprises five truss spans. Four trusses consist of eleven panels and measure

187 feet long, while one comprises twelve panels and measures 210 feet long. The

bridge was commissioned by the Joint Commissioners of Union and Northumberland

Counties and built by Smith and Campion, General Contractors, of Mahonoy City,

Pennsylvania with the Groton Bridge and Manufacturing Company of Groton, New York.

Located at a long-established river crossing, the history of the bridge site is tied

closely to the history of the area's settlement. Since the early nineteenth century the

Allenwood crossing had served as a crucial link joining the economies of the east and

west banks of the West Branch of the Susquehanna. First serving the settlers as a

fording place, then the location of a ferry crossing, the site was not spanned by a

bridge until 1852. The canal on the east bank, and later the railroads on each bank,

provided transportation for bulk goods being produced and harvested in the

surrounding townships on both sides of the river. The towns of Allenwood and Dewart,

therefore, served as vital commercial centers. The establishment and longevity of stores

and smail industries on both sides of the river indicate the importance of this crossing

to local residents and their economy.

White settlers first began migrating into the fertile valley of the West Branch of the

Susquehanna River, between the Montour and Shamokin ridges, in the 1750s. Early

attempts at settlement, however, were eliminated by the Penn's Creek Massacre of 1755.

Over ten years later, in 1768, a new treaty was negotiated with the tribes of the Six

Nations which reopened the territory to white settlers. This territory, "New Purchase" as

it was called, was surveyed in 1769. As payment for their services in the French and

Indian War, officers of the 1 st and 2nd Pennsylvania Regiments received large choice

parcels of New Purchase along the West Branch of the Susquehanna.

Captain William Piper, a French and Indian War veteran, was granted three tracts

of land as his reward. One of these tracts contained a 609-acre parcel on the east bank

of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. This parcel included most of the land

•

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAERNO. PA-i30(Page3)

between the Susquehanna and Delaware Run. The village of Dewart and the east end

of the Alienwood Bridge project area are today located on this parcel.

The early settlers on Piper's tract were largely Scots and Germans. Among the

early industries that developed in the area were saw mills, distilleries, and potash and

soda ash manufacturers. By 1772 the area was incorporated into Turbut (now Delaware)

Township. Just prior to the start of the American Revolution, Stephen Nicely of

Lancaster County, acquired from Piper 200 acres of land bordering the river. Nicely

established a farmstead on this land.

Piper's land continued to change in use, when in 1857, the village of Dewart was

laid out by William Hall, William Mara, and William Nagle. The village received its name

in tribute to William T. Dewart, a congressman from the district. He was responsible for

having a post office established in the village. Dewart soon became a rural commercial

center for the products of the White Deer Valley. The village's first and most important

business was the grain trade. By the late 1860s Dewart's several grain companies

were shipping approximately 200,000 bushels annually. The opening of the Philadelphia

and Reading Railroad in 1872, on the west side of the river, near Alienwood, reduced

the importance of grain to Dewart's economy. Grain transport was no longer limited to

the east side of the river and Dewart was no longer the only shipping depot in the area.

Nonetheless, in 1891 Dewart had a population of 200, four general stores, a

confectionery, tin shop, hotel, warehouse, blacksmith shop, wagon shop and a creamery

operated by M.A. Nicely. Today, the village is primarily residential in character with only

a few businesses.

Alienwood is located a mile west of Dewart, across the Susquehanna. It began

as a 21-acre parcel acquired by John McCurdy in 1792. Prior to this, settlement in the

area was limited to a cabin built by Thomas Weisner in 1787 on the river bank, at the

crossing near the site of the present Alienwood Bridge, in 1808 McCurdy erected a

tavern near the intersection of present-day Route 15 and Route 44. By 1815 he had

laid out house lots north of the tavern, on a 327 acre parcel he acquired from Conrad

and Abraham Tinsbrook in 1809. He subsequently named his developing village

"Uniontown".

The establishment of Uniontown, the precursor to the town of Alienwood,

coincided with the intensive settlement of the Susquehanna West Branch Valley in the

early nineteenth century. Settlers were drawn to the valley by the fertile land and

abundant lumber supply. The growing settlement and its developing economy called

for improved roads and a reliable crossing of the Susquehanna to handle the

increasing commercial traffic.

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAER NO. PA-i30(Page 4)

By 1816 regular ferry service had been established at the fording place of the

river, in January 1816 several of the residents of Turbut Township successfully petitioned

the Northumberland County Commissioners to have a realigned, more direct road built

to the river to improve access to and from this ferry. This road, a predecessor of the

present day Route 44, ran from the eastern bank of the Susquehanna, over Delaware

Run, past the Stephen Nicely Farm, and continued east. This route, as well as the

present day Route 405, mirrored the Shamokin Warpath, a former major Indian overland

route. On the west bank of the Susquehanna the path to the ferry ran west to

Uniontown.

Thirteen years later in 1829, when the Pennsylvania Canal (also known as the

West Branch Canal) was constructed, the Turbut Ferry Road was widened to 33 feet

to accommodate the increased commercial traffic. The canal was constructed on the

alignment of the former road from Muncy to Milton. This road ran on the east side of

the river from the town of Muncy, in the north, south to Milton, intersecting the east/west

river road to the ferry several feet to the west of Delaware Run. To the immediate west

of the canal was located Antrim's store.

The canal fell into disuse after the 1852 construction of the Pennsylvania and

Lake Erie Railroad, a half mile east of the canal. The railroad had a stop at Dewart By

1900 the canal was included in property acquired by the Nicely family. By that time

their extensive land holdings included the property north of the ferry road and east of

Delaware Run. Former structures, such as Antrim's Store, were removed, the canal filled

in, and the land brought under cultivation.

The location of these transportation routes caused Uniontown to become an

important link for traffic heading east across the Susquehanna with materials to be

transported on the canal and later the railroad. The increased use of the site required

a more efficient crossing than the ferry. A group of Uniontown merchants took

advantage of this and formed a bridge company, the White Deer Bridge Company, to

facilitate transportation across the Susquehanna. In 1852 a wooden toll bridge replaced

the ferry. The bridge cost $26,225.00 to construct. A toll house was erected on the

Uniontown side of the bridge road.

One of the principal stockholders of the bridge company was H.P. Allen, owner

of the Allen Lumber Company. By 1861 Allen had opened a general store in Uniontown.

He succeeded in buying the vacant farm land between the river and the village and in

1872 he laid out eight additional lots. He also donated land for the Uniontown railroad

depot when the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was constructed. By 1880 the name

of the village was changed to Allenwood in his honor.

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAER NO. PA-i30(Page 5)

At the end of the nineteenth century, when the fourth and current Allenwood

Bridge was constructed, Allenwood had a population of 300, two hotels, two stores, a

grist mill, lumber yard, planing mill, school, and a Presbyterian chapel.

The site's first bridge, the 1852 wooden toil bridge, was rendered impassable by

the St. Patrick's Day flood of March 1865, which caused extensive damage to the valley.

The bridge was subsequently repaired at a cost of $13,112.00. Periodic flooding of the

river often resulted in damage to, or replacement of, the successive wooden bridges at

the Allenwood crossing. Records do not indicate the designs of any of these earlier

bridges. However, since the river's width at this location is over 900 feet, these bridges

were most likely supported by several stone piers.

On June 1, 1889 a flood caused twenty-five to thirty million dollars in property

damage to the West Branch Valley, and entirely destroyed the rebuilt bridge. The White

Deer Bridge Company built a replacement bridge. Because privately owned bridges

often remained out of service for long periods after they were damaged, the

Pennsylvania Legislature passed an act in June 1891 authorizing counties to take over

any privately owned bridges that had been destroyed, abandoned, or inappropriately

maintained.

Apparently, the White Deer Bridge Company raised the bridge tolls in order to

help cover the costs of rebuilding the bridge. In December 1891 sixty Allenwood

residents complained to the Union County Court of Quarter Sessions of the Peace that

the toll charges were too burdensome. They further asked that the County take over

the bridge. The Board of Commissioners for Union and Northumberland Counties

inspected the bridge on January 30, 1892, and found that the toll charges were fair.

In December 1893 Allenwood residents again presented a petition for a free

bridge. In March 1894 the Board of Commissioners of both counties again turned down

their request by a vote of 4 to 2.

Another record flood, on May 21, 1894, completely destroyed the bridge once

again. It seems that the White Deer Bridge Company was unable or unwilling to rebuild

the bridge a third time. However, at the same time, the Commissioners of both counties

appeared reluctant to acquire the bridge site for the County despite numerous petitions

by the residents.

The stockholders of the White Deer Bridge Company met at the toll house in

November 1894 and overwhelmingly voted (429 to 86) in favor of surrendering the

company charter and transferring the bridge site to county control. The County

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAER NO. PA-I30(page6)

Commissioners still declined to take the necessary steps to acquire the bridge site.

Finally, one Allenwood resident, Anthony Armstrong, brought legal suit against the

Commissioners of Union County at the Court of Common Pleas on behalf of the

residents of Allenwood. The Judicial decision made at the March Term 1895 was in

favor of Armstrong. The decision read: "The Commissioners of Union County are

required to rebuild and reconstruct the bridge....as provided by the Act of Assembly of

16 June 1891....provided the Commissioners of Northumberland County join in rebuilding

and reconstructing and pay a proportionate share in costs and maintenance...".

As a result of this decision, the Union County Commissioners met with the

Northumberland County Commissioners in June 1895 to discuss plans for rebuilding the

bridge. In a joint meeting of the Commissioners, a Mr. Conger of the Groton Bridge

and Manufacturing Company offered to rebuild the superstructure for $25,000 and have

it ready for vehicles by October 1, 1895. General Contractors Smith and Campion

offered to rebuild the east abutment and top out all old piers and the west abutment

at unit costs, and have the substructure ready for the iron work. When brought to a

vote, the motion lost.

In a subsequent joint meeting on July 3, 1895 eighty citizens of Union and

Northumberland Counties petitioned the commissioners to accept the offers of Smith

and Campion and the Groton Bridge and Manufacturing Company. This motion was

brought to a vote and again lost.

At that point the Joint Commissioners employed William Perry, of Perry and

Reeder, Engineer for the Joint Board of Commissioners, to develop plans and

specifications for the proposed structure. The Plans and Specifications were advertised

for bid and the Joint Commissioners selected the firm of Smith and Campion at a bid

price of $36,500.00. The superstructure was subcontracted to the Groton Bridge and

Manufacturing Company of Groton, New York for the sum of $25,000.00. The bridge

abutment and pier rebuilding work was performed by Smith and Campion. In a

separate contract William E. Campbell rebuilt the East and West approaches for the

Joint Commissioners.

C. O. Smith and P. J. Campion, the general contractor for the 1895 Allenwood

Bridge, was a small construction firm that apparently specialized in masonry and related

foundation construction activities. Headquartered in Mahonoy City, Pennsylvania, they

seem to have practiced in central and eastern Pennsylvania. No records of their other

construction activities or history of the company have been found.

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAER NO. PA-i30(Page 7)

Smith and Campion rebuilt the abutments and piers of the Allenwood Bridge.

Made of ashlar masonry, both abutments and piers required various degrees of

preparatory work prior to the superstructure construction. The remnant piers and east

abutment probably date back to the 1860s. The east abutment was rebuilt twenty-three

feet further from the river than the previous east abutment. The west abutment and

piers were built higher before the erection of the superstructure.

The superstructure subcontractor, the Groton Bridge and Manufacturing Company

of Groton, New York was among the major manufacturers of bridges in the last quarter

of the nineteenth century. Although most of the firm's bridge building was conducted

in the Mid-Atlantic region, they built bridges in at least twenty-seven states and in the

District of Columbia. The firm at various times had as many as eleven branch offices.

The Groton Iron Bridge Company was formed in 1877 from the merger of the

Charles Perrigo and Company, iron foundry, and the Groton Separator Works, an

agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was incorporated as the Groton

Bridge and Manufacturing Company in 1887. The Charter described the purposes of the

corporation as "Carrying on and conducting the manufacture of iron bridges, iron piling

for bridges, portable steam engines, grain separators, hot air and steam heaters, and

to do a general repairing and job work." Four patents were issued to the Groton bridge

builders; two for innovations in the building of bridge piers and two for innovations in

the superstructure itself. By 1888 the company employed 150 men.

The decade of the 1890s was a busy and profitable one for Groton. In 1891 the

Groton Mechanics Indemnity Association was formed to provide insurance against

accident and death of the men in the shops and yards of the company. In 1894 annual

business had reached a level of $500,000. In October of 1895 the firm reported that

360 bridges had already been contracted for that year. By the end of the decade,

1899, the company employed 160 men.

The Groton Bridge and Manufacturing Company was one of twenty-three regional

bridge companies that were purchased, or otherwise obtained, during the formation of

the American Bridge Company in 1899. In Groton the shop continued to operate for

another year, in the fall of 1901 the bridge plant at Groton was closed and its machinery

dismantled.

In April of 1902 Groton interests bought back their plant and purchased new

equipment. They operated under the name, The Groton Bridge Company. During these

years the company continued to build bridges, but it also enhanced its activities in other

areas. These included working in the fabrication and erection of steel frames for

•

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAER NO. PA-l30(Page 8)

buildings; the construction of smoke stacks, water tanks, and cast iron and steel sluices;

development of a steel and lead stair and car treads; and marketing of road building

and highway maintenance equipment and supplies which it manufactured, including

graders, concrete mixers, and road drags.

The Groton Bridge Company failed to become firmly established. By 1920

business was so diminished that the remaining equipment was sold to the American

Bridge Company.

During the height of the company's history, the Allenwood Bridge was one of its

products. The truss members manufactured and assembled by the company for the

Allenwood Bridge were typical of truss bridges of the late nineteenth century. The top

chords and end posts of the Allenwood trusses consist of built-up sections made of two

channels with a cover plate and lattice bars. The bottom chords consist of double

eyebars, die-forged and pin-connected at the lower joints. The main diagonals also are

double eyebars, pin-connected at the upper and lower joints; secondary diagonals, or

counters, are double round rods with pin-connected looped ends with turnbuckles near

the midpoints for adjustment of the member. Groton embellished the portals of the end

spans with decorative bridge plates which state the bridge date and the manufacturer.

The bridge railing was a simple steel lattice configuration.

Construction of the Allenwood bridge began in December 1895 and was

completed in late January 1896. William F. Campbell was contracted to provide and

prepare fill for the west approach of the Allenwood Bridge by the Joint Commissioners

on September 16,1895. Alien and Nicely were contracted to prepare the east approach

on November 7, 1895 by the Joint Commissioners. The January 18, 1896 Lewisburg

Saturday News contained the notice that "our new bridge will open up for business next

week since the planks are in. There is no finer bridge in the state". The bridge was

officially opened on January 21. The ceremonies included a brass band and speeches

by the commissioners. A news reporter wrote that the residents "celebrated the

greatest event in the history of the town".

Extant incomplete bridge records, including those on file at the Northumberland

County Court House at Sunbury, indicate that the bridge was painted at least three

times in the first third of the twentieth century. In April 1904, the Canton Bridge

Company of Canton, Ohio was contracted to clean, repaint (one coat) and tighten the

joints of the Allenwood Bridge for $455.00. The paint selected by the Joint County

Commissioners was a brown graphite-oxide paint manufactured by Schroder, Smith and

Schroder. The bridge was again repainted (two coats) in May 1913 by the Oswego

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAERNO. PA-l30(Page9)

Bridge Company of Oswego, New York for $4,700.00. The undercoat, a dark red silica

graphite paint, was manufactured by the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company. In 1930, the

Allenwood Bridge was again repainted.

Other repairs made over the years include: replanking the deck and replacing

56 wooden stringers in December 1906, the installation of 2,070 feet of 1-1/2 inch black

rail piping in July 1907, the replacement of wooden stringers with steel members and

replanking the deck in July 1912, and replanking again in October 1918. A new floor

was again added in 1924 and the approaches were reconstructed in 1928 and 1929.

On June 1, 1930 ownership of the bridge was assumed by the State Highway

Department (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) under a legislative act in which

the state assumed ownership of all roads and bridges on state routes. Alterations to

the structure in the years since the state assumed ownership have included the addition

of a complete new floor and floor system in 1932; a new floor and wearing surface in

1940; the installation of new steei railing in 1954, general rehabilitation in 1962,

repointing in 1977, and miscellaneous structural repair in 1977-78. The structural repairs

included modifications to correct isolated members and joints in ail the spans.

The Allenwood Bridge was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places

as part of a thematic nomination of historic highway bridges owned by Pennsylvania

Department of Transportation. It was inspected in 1986 and determined to be

structurally and functionally inadequate for its site. Rehabilitation schemes for the

existing bridge have been determined unfeasible. The bridge will be demolished and

the fourth replacement bridge will be built to carry traffic across the Susquehanna River

at this long-established river crossing.

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAER NO. PA-i30(Page 10)

•

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bell, Herbert C. History of Northumberland County Pennsylvania. Chicago: Brown, Runk

and Company, 1891.

Byers, G. Leonard. Owner of Peter Brown House, Gregg Township, Pennsylvania.

Interview with Michael A. Hebert. September/October 1984.

Genealogical and Biographical Annals of Northumberland County. Pennsylvania.

Chicago: J. L. Floyd and Company, 1911.

Grey, Nada. Education Coordinator, Union County Historical Society, Lewisburg,

Pennsylvania. Interview with Michael A. Hebert. September/October 1984.

Ellis, F. and A. N. Hungerford. History of that Part of the Susquehanna and Juniata

Valleys. Philadelphia: Everts, Peck and Richards Company, 1886.

Federal Highway Administration and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Composite Technical Basis Report, Allenwood Bridge Replacement Project,

LR. 460, Section 004, Union and Northumberland Counties. Pennsylvania.

March 1986.

Federal Highway Administration and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Environmental Assessment, Allenwood Bridge Replacement Project L.R.

460, Section 004, Union and Northumberland Counties, Pennsylvania. May

1986.

Federal Highway Administration and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Phase

I Survey of Historic and Archaeological Resources, Allenwood Bridge

Replacement Environmental Assessment. October 1985.

Federal Highway Administration and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Phase

II Survey of Archaeological and Historical Resources at the Allenwood Bridge

Replacement, Alternate 4. September 1987.

Hebert, Michael A. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form:

Allenwood Bridge." November 1985.

The Lewisburg Chronicle. May 1895 - April 1896. Microfilm Collection, Periodicals

Section, Bertrand Library, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA.

(continued)

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAER NO. PA-no(Page 11)

Bibliography

The Lewisburg Saturday News, January 18 & 24, 1896. Periodicals Section, Bertrand

Library, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA.

Marshall, W. Jake. Gregg Township, Pennsylvania. Interview with Michael A. Hebert.

September/October 1984.

Meginness, J.J. Qtzinachson: A History of the West Branch Valley of the Susquehanna.

Williamsport: Gazette and Bulletin Printing House, 1889.

Northumberland County Board of Commissioners. Minutes of Monthly Meetings.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Bridge Files.

Pennsylvania. Department of Transportation. "Stress Analysis and Preliminary Cost

Estimates for Rehabilitation of Bridge over West Branch of the Susquehanna

River, L.R. 460, Section 004." Prepared by Capitol Engineers, August 1960.

Pennsylvania. Department of Transportation. "Northumberland County, L.R. 460, Sta.

4+80, Indepth and Underwater Inspection Report, 1987." Prepared by District 3-

0 Bridge Inspection.

"Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form -- Ailenwood River Bridge." Bureau for

Historic Preservation, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. August 1982.

Postcard Collection. Roy H. Snoop, Watsontown, Pennsylvania.

Shoop, Roy H. Watsontown, Pennsylvania. Interview with Robert Pintar. October 1988.

Snyder, Charles M. Union County Pennsylvania - A Bicentennial History. Lewisburg:

Colonial Printing House. 1976.

Sterner, George. Executor of William Nicely Farm Delaware Township, Pennsylvania,

interview with Michael A. Hebert. September/October 1984.

Thurber, Pamela Jo. "A Study of the Groton Iron Bridge Company: The Preservation of

America's Historic Metal Truss Bridges." Master's Thesis, Cornell University, New

York, 1984.

ALLENWOOD BRIDGE

HAER NO. PA-^qPage 12)

Bibliography

Thurber, Pamela Jo. Interview with Michael A. Hebert. September 1984.

Union County Board of Commissioners. Minutes of Monthly Meetings.

Union County. Pennsylvania - A Bicentennial History. Milleville, Pennsylvania:

Northumberland County Historical Society, 1976.