Property’s Photo of the Week: The Only Covered Bridge Remaining in a Major U.S. City Is in Philadelphia
Update: According to Bradley Maule, the Thomas Mill Covered Bridge is “thought to date from an original bridge in 1737.” Maule says it was rebuilt in 1855, rebuilt again by WPA workers circa 1938, and was last renovated by the city and FOW in 1999. We believe him: guy spent a day of every week for a year collecting trash from Wissahickon Valley Park, so he knows a thing or two about it. Check out his One Man’s Trash exhibit at the Fairmount Water Works.
It’s well over a century old, but the Thomas Mill Covered Bridge is just as picturesque as any place marked on this map right here. And guess what? It should be on that map seeing as how it’s a Philadelphia bridge with some serious historical cachet.
According to the Friends of the Wissahickon website, it was originally built in 1737 and is “the only remaining covered bridge in the Wissahickon.” We don’t know about the former (other sources place its construction in the mid- to late-1800s) but it’s one-and-only status is true in an urban context: it’s the only covered in Philadelphia and, the city’s Capital Program Office adds, “the only covered bridge in a major U.S. city.” Pretty neat, huh? You can find it along Forbidden Drive at Wissahickon Valley Park, east of Bells Mill Road, if you’ve suddenly got a hankering to go see. Here’s another shot of it by John Cruice:
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