Red Lion Road Bridge - 1843 - Philadelphia, PA
N 40° 03.931 W 074° 58.858
18T E 501623 N 4435029
A really nice square white date stone from 1843 has also been defaced by local hoodlums. So very sad but with some effort, it still might remain and be legible again.
Waymark Code: WMAH1K
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 01/15/2011
Views: 15
This is a very unique bridge and and stone in that it was a joint venture between two counties as it spans both of them equally. Appropriately, the stone reads PHILADELPHIA & BUCKS COUNTY BRIDGE 1843. It has been defaced with graffiti and of course worn with the time and the elements but if you stare at it long enough and with the proper application of time, patience and perseverance, the incised inscription is readable.
The stone is a beauty, bleached right on the northern side of the bridge built into the original stone and flush, mid-span, and a foot or so off of the ground. This stone arch bridge passes over Poquessing Creek on Red Lion Road in Philadelphia. It is one of several original 19th stone arch bridges that span this creek, this one is the oldest. These stone bridges all bear original date stones sunk into the original fabric of the bridge. Another one of these is about 200 feet away.
From my previous waymark on this site:
This stone bridge is 165 years old. The bridge is about 50 feet away from a 1904 concrete, multiple arch bridge spanning the same water. Curiously, while the 1904 bridge is on the NRHP, this 1845 bridge is not. This multiple arch bridge is open to traffic and is kind of secluded even though the hugely busy Bristol Pike is only a couple dozen yards away. There is a steep embankment off to the side and with careful footing you can get right down there and check out the underbelly of the bridge and perhaps snap a few photos as well.
The length of the largest span is 16.1 ft. and the total length of the bridge is 58.1 ft. and the deck width is 22.3 ft. As of a July 1998 inspection, the bridge is in poor condition, structurally and cosmetically. Naturally, because it is in Philadelphia, it has been disgraced with Graffiti. Also, a really nice square white date stone from 1845 has also been defaced by local hoodlums. So very sad.
The bridge is just before the border for Bucks County and Bensalem. A decent website for the bridge cam be found HERE
I did manage to find one other reference to this bridge found HERE. It reads:
With three arches, the Red Lion Road bridge is the largest stone arch bridge on the Poquessing. It is no longer heavily used, and primarily serves as an exit for homes in Crestmont Farms to Bristol Pike. We believe this bridge is owned jointly by Bucks County and Philadelphia, and the city of Philadelphia plans reconstruction of the bridge in 2009. They are not yet sure what form the reconstruction will take.
The area around the Red Lion Bridge is rich in local history. A few blocks away lies the Hart Burying Ground established in 1683, where some of the earliest settlers, including ancestors of Dr. Benjamin Rush, were laid to rest. General George Washington and the Continental Army camped along the Poquessing behind the Red Lion Inn on their way to Yorktown. The Red Lion Inn, located on the Kings Highway (now
Bristol Pike) next to the bridge, was the first public house in the area. Delegates to Congress from Massachusetts dined there on their way to Philadelphia in 1774, and John Adams was known to stop there on his travels to and from Philadelphia. The Red Lion Inn operated from about 1726 until it was destroyed by fire in 1991.