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Glen Hope or Elk Mills or John Anderson's Ford, Chester County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: PA/38-15-02
County: Chester County
Township: Elk
Town/Village: South of Elk Mills
Bridge Name: Glen Hope or Elk Mills or John Anderson's Ford
Crosses: Little Elk Creek
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 78' overall, 67'-4" span
Roadway Width: 15'-4"
Built: 1889
Builder: George E. Jones - stone, Menander Wood - wood
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N39 43.616
Longitude: W075 54.460
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 2.7 miles northwest of jct with PA213/841 ( just north of the Maryland State Line) on PA472, then 0.5 miles left on State Rd. and 1.0 miles left on Hickory Hill Rd.

Glen Hope Bridge, Elk, PA. Built 1889
Richard Donovan / Trish Kane Collection

Glen Hope Bridge, Elk, PA. Built 1889
Bill Caswell Photo

Glen Hope Bridge, Elk, PA. Built 1889
Bill Caswell Photo, May 2, 2015

Comments:
Chester County #40. 8-panel truss. The arches are made up of four straight segments each, which sandwich the familiar Multiple Kingpost part of the truss. It was built in 1889 for a total cost of $1,767.00. The clearance from the floor to underside of cross beams in several areas was 12' 5" (as of July, 1982). In October, 1962, an overweight cement truck went through the floor and afterwards it was closed for many months. During a time period when a great deal of covered bridges were being replaced, this one was saved largely due to the efforts of then Chester County Commissioner, J. Carl Empie. The owners of the concrete truck paid half the cost and the bridge was repaired. It was unhoused in an arson attempt on October 6, 1987, but was repaired using Bongossi wood from Africa and is now in good condition. On Hickory Hill Road (T344) and is the southernmost covered bridge in Pennsylvania.

Sources:
Evans, Benjamin D. & June R.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges, 2001, page 75
James, Arthur E.. Covered Bridges of Chester County, PA, 1976, pages 29-30
Travis, Dale. Pennsylvania Covered Bridges List, updated to 26 Aug 2004, http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbpa.htm (23 Sep 2004)
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume 25, Number 4, January 1968, page 15
Moll, Fred J.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges - Our Heritage, 2004, pages 86-87
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, May 2007
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 104