Skip to main content

Oldtown Toll Bridge - Maryland and West Virginia

 


The Oldtown Toll Bridge linking Oldtown, Maryland over the Potomac River with neighboring Green Spring, West Virginia is only one of a few truly privately owned toll bridges located in the United States. It's a simple bridge by design, as the 318 foot long Oldtown Toll Bridge is a low water bridge. Low water bridges are designed to allow water to safely and efficiently flow over the bridge deck. Additionally, a dozen concrete pedestals have been secured in the Potomac River in order to support the bridge and wooden deck.

The bridge was constructed in 1937 when a gentleman by the name of Mr. Carpenter obtained the proper permits to build the Bridge through an Act of Congress. This was a blessing for residents, especially on the West Virginia side of the Potomac River, as it saved motorists commuting to Cumberland an hour in travel time. Using Mr. Carpenter's blueprints, the Army Corp of Engineers and a number of local laborers constructed the bridge and it remained under the same ownership for 34 years until 1971.

Later, in 1987, Charles Walters purchased the bridge. When he passed away in 1991, his wife, Frances inherited the business operations of the bridge. After this, the bridge almost went under a wrecking ball when the county commissioners cited the bridge to be unsafe and put up barricades to prevent travel across the bridge. However, the barricades did not stop people from using the bridge as they were accustomed to travel across the Oldtown Toll Bridge. The people took down the barricades and crossed the bridge anyway during this period. The bridge was restored in 1999 with grants from both West Virginia and Maryland.

Today, the Oldtown Toll Bridge remains as a popular and unique way to travel across the Potomac River. Local businesses and residents depend on the bridge to make travel to such destinations as Cumberland, Maryland a relatively quick jaunt. The bridge's location down the road from Lock 70 of the historic Chesapeake & Ohio Canal makes this a historically interesting area to visit. The Oldtown Toll Bridge also has a number of campsites nearby, and the bridge is also used for recreational purposes along the Potomac River, such as for boating or fishing. I had the opportunity to check out this simple bridge over Memorial Day Weekend in 2022 and had an enjoyable time finding out what the Oldtown Toll Bridge is all about.


The toll booth for the Oldtown Toll Bridge is located on the Maryland side of the bridge. While there is no electronic tolling, you can pay your toll with cash or card.

Toll rates for the Oldtown Toll Bridge as of May 2022.

Approaching the Oldtown Toll Bridge from the Maryland side of the river.

Looking at the Oldtown Toll Bridge from the Maryland bank of the Potomac River.

Looking at the Oldtown Toll Bridge from the Maryland bank of the Potomac River.

Looking west at the Potomac River. The river is rather peaceful here.

Approaching the bridge from the West Virginia side of the Potomac River.

Looking at the Oldtown Toll Bridge from the West Virginia bank of the Potomac River.


How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Bridgehunter.com - Oldtown Low-Water Toll Bridge
HistoricBridges.org - Oldtown Toll Bridge
Maryland Office of Tourism - Old Town Historical Toll Bridge
Oldtown Historic Toll Bridge - History
WV Uncovered on YouTube - Oldtown Toll Bridge

Comments

Br0kenR0ads said…
CHEcK OUT this video of crossing the old town toll bridge.
Br0kenR0ads said…
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRkFBhCr/?k=1
Unknown said…
Good report I've crossed this bridge many times

Popular posts from this blog

Chowchilla Mountain Road to Yosemite National Park

Chowchilla Mountain Road of Mariposa County is one of the oldest roadways servicing Yosemite National Park.  As presently configured this fourteen-mile highway begins at California State Route 49 near Elliot Corner and terminates at the Wawona Road in Yosemite National Park.  Chowchilla Mountain Road was constructed as a franchise toll road over Battalion Pass circa 1869-1870.  The highway was built at behest of Galen Clark to connect the town of Mariposa to his property near the South Fork Merced River at what is now Wawona.   In late 1874 the highway along with Clark’s Station would be purchased by the Washburn Brothers.  The Washburn Brothers would continue to toll Chowchilla Mountain Road as part of their Yosemite Stage Route lines.  The highway would ultimately become a Mariposa County public highway in 1917.  Mariposa would later be more directly linked with Yosemite Valley in 1926 following the completion of the Yosemite All-Year Highwa...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

At 1.3 kilometers (or about 0.84 miles) in length, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is one of two bridges crossing over the Halifax Harbour between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with the other bridge being the A. Murray Mackay Bridge . Opened in 1955 and named after former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian Minister of Defense for Naval Services Angus L. Macdonald, the Macdonald Bridge was the first bridge that crossed Halifax Harbour that was opened to traffic. The Macdonald Bridge was also the subject of the Big Lift, which was only the second time in history that the span of a suspension bridge were replaced while the bridge was open to traffic. Planning began in 2010 for the Big Lift, while construction took place between 2015 and 2017. Similar work occurred on the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia before the project took place on the Macdonald Bridge. At this time, much of the bridge infrastructure is new, leaving only the towers, main cables and...