Skip to main content

The National Road - Pennsylvania - Claysville 'S' Bridge

Just about halfway between Washington and Claysville, where US 40 meets PA Route 221, sits one of the better examples of National Road infrastructure within Pennsylvania.  The Claysville 'S' Bridge sits just west of the intersection with PA 221 and is a great piece of the National Road's past.

Looking eastwards at the Claysville 'S' Bridge. (Adam Prince, July 2009)
The stone arch bridge was built between 1815 and 1818 and carried travelers between Washington and Claysville for over a century.  The bridge over an unnamed branch of Buffalo Creek is the only stone-arch 'S' bridge along the National Road in Pennsylvania.

Now looking westwards - grass has taken over the old roadway. (Adam Prince; July 2009)
As the automobile era began to develop, the Claysville 'S' Bridge would become obsolete.  The National Road and US 40 would be straightened just to the bridges south with a new and much smaller concrete bridge crossing the creek.
The Claysville 'S' Bridge not long after a new straighter alignment of US 40 took its place.  The photo above still has pavement along the bridge and the original alignment of US 40.  The photo below shows how the bridge was cut to make way for the new alignment of US 40. (A.S. Burns/Library of Congress - 1933)
(A.S. Burns/Library of Congress - 1933)
That then 'new' US 40 bridge would be replaced in 2009.  Though abandoned from automobile use - the 'S' bridge was preserved as a roadside park which it remains to this day.  The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and remains a popular stop for locals and tourists following the highway.

By the mid-century, the 'S' bridge had become a roadside park complete with picnic tables.  The old road bed is now entirely grass. (Image courtesy cardcow.com)
Detail of the stone arches. (Adam Prince, July 2009)

Site Navigation:
Sources & Links:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway

The communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway can all be found along US Route 101 within southern Humboldt County.  The former surface alignment of US Route 101 in Garberville and Redway once crossed the Garberville Bluffs along what is now Redwood Drive via a corridor constructed as part of the Redwood Highway during the 1910s.  US Route 101 through Benbow, Garberville and Redway was modernized by 1935.  US Route 101 would eventually be upgraded to freeway standards in Benbow, Garberville and Redway by extension of the Redwood Freeway during 1966-68.  As the cover photo the original grade of US Route 101 and the Redwood Highway can be seen at the Garberville Bluffs during 1934.  US Route 101 can be seen in the communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Humboldt County .   The history of US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway Benbow, Garberville and Redway lie on the banks of the South Fork Eel River of southern Humboldt County.  D

Highways in and around Old Sacramento; US 40, US 99W, CA 16, CA 24, CA 70, CA 99, CA 275, and more

This past weekend I was visiting the City of Sacramento for a wedding.  That being the case I decided to head out on a morning run through Old Sacramento, Jibboom Street Bridge, I Street Bridge, Tower Bridge, and path of US Route 40/US Route 99W towards the California State Capitol.  My goal was to retrace the paths of the various highways that once traversed the Old Sacramento area. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page The old highway alignments of Sacramento The City of Sacramento lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and American River in Sacramento Valley.  Sacramento Valley was discovered by Spanish Explorer Gabriel Moraga in 1808.  Moraga referred to the fertile Sacramento Valley akin to a "Blessed Sacrament."  By 1839 John Sutter Sr. settled in Mexican held

Old Stage Road in Tulare County and Kern County

Old Stage Road is an approximately 30-mile rural highway comprised of Tulare County Mountain Road 1, Kern County Mountain Road 447 and Tulare County Mountain Road 109.  Old Stage originates at Jack Ranch Road near Posey and ends at the outskirts of Porterville at Deer Creek.  Old Stage Road notably is comprised of two 19th Century stage routes.  From White Mountain Road northwest to Fountain Springs, Old Stage Road overlays Thomas Baker's 1860s era stage road to Linn Valley (now Glennville) and the Kern River Gold Rush Claims.  From Fountain Springs to Deer Creek, Old Stage Road is comprised of the 1853 Stockton-Los Angeles Road. Featured as the blog cover is the northward descent on Old Stage Road along Arrastre Creek to the town site of White River.  What became White River was settled along a spur of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road as "Dog Town" when gold was discovered nearby.  By 1856 the community had been renamed Tailholt.  A stage road from Tailholt to Linn Valley w