Skip to main content

Hares Hill Road Bridge - Chester County, Pennsylvania

Image
By

 


The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has plenty of interesting and historic bridges. While the state hosts a large number of covered bridges, there are a good number of historic iron truss bridges that can be found as well. By happenstance, I found the Hares Hill Road Bridge in Chester County while driving around the county this past summer. Also known as the Silver Bridge, this bridge was built in 1869 and spans over the scenic French Creek in East Pikeland Township between Kimberton and Phoenixville at a length of 105 feet. But the bridge's age isn't what makes it unique.

The Hares Hill Bridge was built by the Moseley Iron Bridge and Roof Company of Boston, Massachusetts and is a wrought iron bowstring bridge. The bridge was designed by Thomas Moseley, who held patents on wrought iron bridges going back to 1857. The bridge is one of the earliest examples of a bowstring truss bridge, a type of bridge that rapidly came and went into fashion, briefly becoming popular during the years following the Civil War. Bowstring truss bridges are rare enough today, and it is possible that the Hares Hill Bridge may be the last of its kind. The bridge is also among the oldest metal bridges of any design remaining in North America. As a result, the historic significance of the Hares Hill Bridge may not have a similar comparison to other small highway bridges within the United States of America.

The bridge should have a good future ahead of it. There was a project that took place in 2018 to allow the rehabilitation of the Hares Hill Road Bridge by reconstructing the damaged and deteriorated wingwalls, reconstructing the stone masonry parapets with reinforced concrete, and installing brown guiderail to protect the blunt ends of the parapets. A concrete strip on the bridge deck has also been installed to allow for easier crossing by cyclists.

There is a pull-off at the south end of the bridge if you want to check out the bridge, or perhaps to fish or enjoy the nearby French Creek Trail. This made it easy to explore the Hares Hill Road Bridge in all of its glory.

The Hares Hill Road Bridge crosses French Creek, part of the Pennsylvania Scenic Rivers System.

Side profile of the Hares Hill Road Bridge and related stone masonry work.

Examining the wrought iron work along the bridge.

Wading in the French Creek Bridge to get all of the good bridge pictures.

Bridge plaque commemorating the commissioners and contractor at the time of the original construction of the Hares Hill Road Bridge in 1869.

Bridge plaque honoring the bridge masonry rehabilitation in 2018.

A parting shot as I get ready to bid the Hares Hill Road Bridge adieu.


How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Bridgehunter.com - Hares Hill Road Bridge
HistoricBridges.org - Hares Hill Road Bridge
The Mercury - Hares Hill Road bridge re-opens in East Pikeland (August 20, 2018)
Labels:
Location: Hares Hill Rd, East Pikeland Township, PA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

By
The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...
2 comments
Read more

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

By
A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida.  One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region.  For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate.  Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century.  Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area.  The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...
4 comments
Read more