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Locust Knob or Saltsburg, Indiana County

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

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Inventory Number: PA/38-32-36x / PA-65-18x
County: Indiana County / Westmoreland County
Township: Conemaugh - Loyalhanna
Town/Village: Saltsburg - Locust Knob
Bridge Name: Locust Knob or Saltsburg
Crosses: Conemaugh or Kiskiminetas River
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 2
Length: c420'
Roadway Width: 23'
Built: 1842
Builder: Absalom Woodward
When Lost: 08 Jun 1922
Cause: Burned
Latitude: N40 29.16
Longitude: W079 27.23
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: On Washington Street (Route 286 - SR0286, Route 80 in 1941).

Saltsburg Bridge, Indiana County, PA. Built 1842 Burned 8 Jun 1922
Elna Johnson Collection

Saltsburg Bridge, Indiana County, PA. Built 1842 Burned 8 Jun 1922
Todd Clark Collection

Locust Knob or Saltsburg Bridge, Conemaugh-Loyalhanna, Indiana County, PA. Built 1842 Burned 8 Jun 1922
Fred Yenerall Collection

Comments:
18-panel truss. This was a double-barrel bridge. Either at, or just north of Saltsburg, anywhere from the mouth of Loyalhanna Creek to the Armstrong-Indiana-Westmoreland County border, the Conemaugh River changes its name to Kiskiminetas River as it heads downstream. Its the same stream. This bridge was just to the north of the confluence, so both names have been listed for the sake of historical record. According to History of Indiana County, PA by J.A.Caldwell (1880), "the first bridge at Saltsburg was the present toll bridge, erected in 1842, at an expense of $10,000.00, by the Saltsburg Bridge Company. Absalom Woodward was the contractor. Daniel McKean was master carpenter, and John Stoops master Mason. It consists of two spans, each being one hundred and fifty feet in length." Comparing different aged maps, the site of the present bridge is at the same as the old.

Sources:
Caldwell, J. A., 1745-1880. History of Indiana County Penn'a., Newark, Ohio, 1880.
Moll, Fred J.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges - Our Heritage, 2004, page 36
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, June 2007

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