Market Street Bridge (Philadelphia)

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The existing Market Street Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is located where Market Street now crosses the Schuylkill River. The bridge succeeded ferry boats and a couple of rudimentary floating bridges across the Schuylkill River. (While the British were in possession of Philadelphia during the American Revolution, there was a pontoon bridge at this point and later a plank-floor bridge on floating logs.) The Market Street Bridge was also the final link in the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike.

When the directors of the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge Company of Philadelphia elected in 1801 to build a wooden structure across the Schuylkill instead of the stone arch bridge originally planned, they called on Timothy Palmer to complete the job. Palmer (1751-1821) was the best-known wooden bridge builder in the country, and the resulting bridge became his best-known work. Palmer and his workmen completed the structure on two previously-built piers at a cost of $300,000. Known then as "The Permanent Bridge," it had an overall length of 1300 feet, with a center span of 195 feet and a 12-foot rise. The two side spans were 150 feet each. Supposedly, this was the first permanent bridge over a major American river, as well as the world's first bridge with regular masonry piers in deep water.

The trusswork was sufficiently completed on January 1, 1805, to permit the bridge to be opened to traffic. But the president of the bridge company asked Palmer if the bridge wouldn't last longer if it was protected from the wind and rain by a weatherproof covering. Palmer said that the bridge's life span might be increased from ten-twelve years to thirty-forty years if a roof and sidewalls were added. Thus was created the first covered bridge in America. It was sometimes referred to as the "High Street Bridge", since Market Street was originally known as "High Street".

As Palmer had predicted, the bridge stood with little attention until 1850, when a fire gutted it. It was rebuilt and widened for an additional railroad car track, as by then it was also used for railroad traffic. The Market Street Bridge lasted until 1875, when it was completely destroyed by another fire. It was quickly replaced by a wooden structure, which itself was replaced by an iron cantilever bridge completed in 1888.

The existing Market Street Bridge was erected in 1932, complete with balustrades and other decorative elements. The four eagle statues on the east and west approaches came from New York's Pennsylvania Station, donated to the City of Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania Railroad after Penn Station was demolished in the mid 1960s. The Market Street Bridge is across from Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, built and formerly owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

[edit] References

• Adapted from William H. Shank, "Historic Bridges of Pennsylvania", revised ed. (York, PA: American Canal & Transportation Center, 1980), at 3-4, and from other sources.