Free Bridge (Northampton Street)

6

Easton “Free” Bridge

(Photo by Virginia Lawrence-Hope)

Free Bridge (Northampton Street)

In 1739, the Sheriff of Hunterdon County, New Jersey (David Martin) secured from King George II the right to run a ferry over the Delaware River at the Forks. In 1741, the Penn Family confirmed this grant for the Pennsylvania side of the River.[1] This ferry started from a sand spit in the River, but ultimately ran from “The Point” in Easton, at the foot of Ferry Street.[2] Another ferry across the Lehigh River ran from the foot of Fourth Street.

By the 1790s, the inadequacies of the Delaware River ferry encouraged the construction of a bridge. This was chartered in 1795[3] (William Henry II, the gunsmith from Jacobsburg was one of the Commissioners[4]). Although the bridge abutments (at the river banks) and piers (in the river) were constructed by 1898,[5] the bridge itself was not completed until 1806 due to a lack of funds.[6] In the interim, there was a considerable wreckage of rafts on the unfinished piers. In addition, according to “some account” a “crude wood” bridge was thrown up across the Delaware in 1800 (erector unknown), but a flood swept it away before it was even completed.[7] Funding for the official bridge included state-authorized lotteries, and public loans.[8] At the end, another $10,000 public loan was required to build the roof. The meaure passed the state Senate, but politicians calculated it was two votes short of passage in the House. Major William Barnet of Easton, as a member of the Assembly, invited two opposing legislators to a eucre card game at his hotel, and over a quantity of “hot toddy” got them to wager and lose their votes, thus ensuring passage of the government loan.[9] Although it was the first Delaware River bridge chartered, the bridge at Easton was the second one opened – the bridge at Trent Town (Trenton) was finished some 8 months earlier.[10]

The official bridge at Easton was finished by Massachusetts master carpenter Cyrus “Timothy” Palmer, who had taught himself to build bridges in his home state. In 1806, he had constructed the first fully-enclosed bridge in America, over the Schuylkill at Market Street in Philadelphia. Covered bridges were thought to have better protection from the weather and rot, and a fully-enclosed bridge went one step better – although the design did provide windows along the span, to permit light to enter and cattle manure to be ejected. Palmer’s successful completion of the second fully-enclosed bridge in America, at Easton, was to be his last bridge contract before retiring. The Easton bridge came to be known as the “Palmer Bridge” in his honor.[11] In 1811, traveler Rouse Taylor described the structure as:

“a covered bridge over [the Delaware] 600 feet in length, its breadth ample, admitting 2 carriage roads and sufficient room for passengers on foot; when on the midst of it one might fancy himself in an immense store.”[12]

Despite its apparently roominess, regulations attempted to hold traffic’s progress over the bridge to a slow speed: an 1895 sign written above the openings at each end urged caution, and warned that “ALL PERSONS RIDING OR DRIVING OVER THIS BRIDGE FASTER THAN A WALK WILL BE PUNISHED AS THE LAW DIRECTS.”[13]

(c.1900)[14]

Palmer Bridge and “The Point”[15]

The Palmer Bridge replaced the Delaware River ferry and rendered the ferry rights worthless. However, the bridge increased the value of the ferry landings on either side of the River, which more than made up for the lost value. In fact, the bridge operator contributed land in Phillipsburg (including “practically all” of Union Square) to the bridge project.[16] The bridge became one of the best-paying bridges on the Delaware River, once compelte.[17] Relocation of traffic from the ferry to the Palmer Bridge did mean that Ferry Street ceased being the main East-West thoroughfare through Easton, which was replaced by Northampton Street.[18] The approach to the bridge was marred (between Front and Second Streets) by a deep depression known as Molasses Hollow. In 1803, before the bridge was completed, men and boys from Easton volunteered for a “Frolic” to fill in the hollow by hand with dirt from a nearby hill.[19] Refreshments were provided by their “wives, daughters and sweethearts”.[20]

While the Palmer Bridge was a great success with land traffic, its two stone piers in the Delaware River continued to be a danger to timber raftsmen coming down the River. At high water, the bridge span itself also provided little headroom. Coupled with the cross current from the Lehigh River and the dangers from later railway bridges, several rafts per year were typically lost around Easton. Citizens from Easton and Phillipsburg gathered during rafting season, for a recognized spectator sport of river-watching as dozens of rafts attempted the treacherous passage.[21]

In the 1890s, with the advent of trolleys to Easton and the aging of the wooden Palmer Bridge, it was decided to construct a new one out of steel to meet the needs of the modern age. James Madison Porter III, a civil engineer from the Porter family of Easton who was then teaching at Lafayette College, designed a cantilever construction to anchor the bridge to the river banks, and eliminate the mid-river piers.[22]

·  The “unique suspension-type styling design . . . is akin to only one other [bridge] in the world, the Liberty Bridge [Franz Josef Bridge] in Budapest, Hungary”[23] built for the Millennium World Exhibition of 1896 from plans based on a design competition of 1893[24] – which is undoubtedly why an academic engineer like Porter was familiar with the design technique at that time. .

Porter also arranged for the concurrent demolition of the old Palmer Bridge, so that traffic could continue across the river as the new bridge was constructed. The new bridge was begun in 1894[25] and finished in 1896.[26] Professor Porter “claimed his unique cantilever design made the bridge virtually indestructible”. His point was proved during the record-setting “Pumpkin Freshet” flood of October 1903, when the Easton bridge was one of only two Delaware River pedestrian bridges to survive. The press hailed it as the “Gibraltar of the Delaware”.[27]

In 1921, the bridge was purchased for $300,000 by the Joint Commission for the Elimination of Toll Bridges, which included a large surplus that had accumulated from the tolls.[28] The bridge’s flooring was replaced and anchorages for the catilever supports were repaired in the fall of 1925 and the summer of 1926.[29] The bridge became toll-free from 1922,[30] although a sign proclaiming a 5 cent toll was still hung on the bridge into the 1930s.[31] Accordingly, it is known today as the “Free Bridge”. Shortly after the purchase, political agitation began to add a toll bridge, which was ultimately added at Bushkill Street in 1938.[32]

In 1955, debris did smash through the middle of the bridge span during the flood caused by Hurricanes Connie and Diane, and two Bailey bridges had to be erected by the Army to carry traffic. The bridge was repaired by Bethlehem Steel Corp. and reopened in 1957.[33] It is today a National Civil Engineering Landmark.[34]

[1] A.D. Chidsey, Jr., A Frontier Village: Pre-Revolutionary Easton 38-39 (Vol. III of Publications of The Northampton County Historical & Genealogical Society 1940). See also Rev. Uzal W. Condit, The History of Easton, Penn’a 13, 46 (George W. West 1885 / 1889); William J. Heller, Historic Easton from the Window of a Trolley-Car 74 (Express Printing Co. and Harmony Press, 1911, reprinted by Genealogical Researchers 1984); Marie and Frank Summa & Leonard Buscemi Sr., Images of America: Historic Easton 13 (Arcadia Publishing 2000).

[2] Heller, Historic Easton from the Window of a Trolley-Car, supra at 75; Anon., Phillipsburg, J.H. Centennial 1961: A Souvenir Booklet Commemorating 100 Years of Corporate Life 9-10 (Phillipsburg 1961)(available online through Heritage Quest); see also Chidsey, A Frontier Village, supra at 43, 46-47, 49, 118; Leonard S. Buscemi, Sr., The Easton-Phillipsburg 1999 Calendar 24 (Buscemi Enterprises 1998); but cf. Frank Talbot Dale, Our Delaware River Ferries 8 (County Chronicles Book #16, June 2002)(stone ferry house built at the Point in 1739).

[3] Chidsey, A Frontier Village, supra at 53; Frank T. Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River: A History of Crossings 69 (Rutgers University Press 2003).

[4] Charles M. Sandwick, Sr., Jacobsburg: A Pennsylvania Community and Its People 16, 20 (Nazareth PA: Jacobsburg Historical Society 1985).

[5] Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 69; see Article, “Commemorating Opening of New Delaware Brige: First Span Across Delaware Swept Away By High Water”, Easton Express, Thurs., 13 Jan. 1938, Section II, p.17, cols. 1-3 (foundations complete by Fall 1798 but building stopped for lack of funds).

But see M.S. Henry, History of the Lehigh Valley 120 (Bixler & Corwin 1860), which states that the bridge building itself did not truly start until 1803, when “the late Samuel Sitgreaves took it in hand, and assumed the active superintendence of its affairs”.

[6] See Chidsey, A Frontier Village, supra at 53; Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 69-70; William W. Carling, Northampton County Studies in Our Community 16 (Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society, sponsor; Easton Area Public Library accession stamp 8 April 1940).

In 1895, the inscriptions over the Palmer Bridge at both ends stated that the bridge had been erected by “T. Palmer” in 1805. See Ronald W. Wynkoop, Sr., It Seems Like Yesterday 240-41 (self published 1989).

[7] Article, “Commemorating Opening of New Delaware Brige: First Span Across Delaware Swept Away By High Water”, Easton Express, Thurs., 13 Jan. 1938, Section II, p.17, cols. 1-3.

[8] Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 70; Article, “Commemorating Opening of New Delaware Brige: First Span Across Delaware Swept Away By High Water”, Easton Express, Thurs., 13 Jan. 1938, Section II, p.17, cols. 1-3.

[9] Condit, History of Easton, Penn’a, supra at 193; Article, “Commemorating Opening of New Delaware Brige: First Span Across Delaware Swept Away By High Water”, Easton Express, Thurs., 13 Jan. 1938, Section II, p.17, cols. 1-3.

[10] Chidsey, A Frontier Village, supra at 53; Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 70.

[11] Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 70-71; Dale, Our Delaware River Ferries, supra at 10.

[12] Rayner Wickersham Kelsey, At the forks of the Delaware 1794 – 1811 4 (The Pennsylvania History Press 1920). See generally Ronald W. Wynkoop, Sr., It Seems Like Yesterday 273 (self published 1989)(picture of bridge c.1887).

[13] Ronald W. Wynkoop, Sr., It Seems Like Yesterday 240-41 (self published 1989)(photographs).

[14] Ethan Allen Weaver, “The Forks of the Delaware” Illustrated XV (Eschenbach Printing 1900). See also, e.g., Ronald W. Wynkoop, Sr., It Seems Like Yesterday 240-41, 273 (self published 1989).

[15] Untitled Mounted Photograph in National Canal Museum Archives, Box C14, No. 1978.009.002 78P.1.2 (7th last photo in box; original in sepia tones, here rendered in black and white).

[16] Chidsey, A Frontier Village, supra at 53.

[17] Article, “Commemorating Opening of New Delaware Brige: First Span Across Delaware Swept Away By High Water”, Easton Express, Thurs., 13 Jan. 1938, Section II, p.17, cols. 1-3.

[18] Ethan Allen Weaver, “The Forks of the Delaware” Illustrated xxv (Eschenbach Press 1900(available online through Heritage Quest).

[19] Virginia Williams Bentley, Sesquicentennial Story of the First Presbyterian Church of Easton, Pennsylvania 1811-1861 24 (1961)( a “Frolic”); Heller, Historic Easton From the Window of a Trolley-Car, supra at 151; Scott Hill, A Self Guided Tour . . . Historic Forks of the Delaware 2 (Eagle Scout Project, 29 Apr.1992); Easton Is Home, Summer 2006 Heritage Edition at 47.

[20] Heller, Historic Easton From the Window of a Trolley-Car, supra at 151; Hill, A Self Guided Tour, supra at 2.

[21] Frank Dale, Delaware Diary: Episodes in the Life of a River 26-27 (Rutgers University Press 1996); Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 72; Summa & Buscemi, Images of America: Historic Easton, supra at 28.

[22] Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 73; Dale, Delaware Diary, supra at 106-07.

[23] Joseph F. Donnelly (Deputy Executive Director of Communications for Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission), “75 Years Old: The Easton-Phillipsburg (Route 22) Toll Bridge”, The Easton Heritage Edition 6 (Easton Irregular Summer 2013).

[24] See Bridges of Budapest, “Liberty Bridge”, http://www.bridgesofbudapest.com/bridge/liberty_bridge (accessed 11 July 2013).

[25] See Dotta Auction for 27 Feb. 2010, “Easton Luigi Collection”, www.dottaauction.com/auction-catalog.php, Item No. 67 (drawing of new bridge signed by engineer, J.M. Porter, dated Dec. 1894) and Item No.444 (one photo – of three – shows Palmer Bridge being removed for replacement by new iron bridge)(accessed 26 Feb. 2010).

[26] Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 73; Dale, Delaware Diary, supra at 106-07. See also Ronald W. Wynkoop, Sr., It Seems Like Yesterday 154, 201 (self published 1989)(1896 picture of the bridge on 10 Oct. 1896; 1895 picture of demolition of Palmer Bridge in progress, with a new pier for the iron bridge in the picture). The Palmer Bridge had just withstood a flood in 1895. See id. at 227 (picture of Palmer Bridge during 1895 flood).

[27] Dale, Delaware Diary, supra at 106-10; see Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 73-75.

[28] Dale, Bridges Over the Delaware River, supra at 75; Article, “Commemorating Opening of New Delaware Brige: First Span Across Delaware Swept Away By High Water”, Easton Express, Thurs., 13 Jan. 1938, Section II, p.17, cols. 1-3 (purchase on 3 Aug. 1921 at a price of $300,000 including a large surplus).