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Smith's, New Castle County

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Inventory Number: DE/08-02-01x
County: New Castle County
Township: Brandywine Hundred - Christiana Hundred
Town/Village: Granogue
Bridge Name: Smith's
Crosses: Brandywine Creek
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 139'
Roadway Width: 16
Built: 1839
Builder:
When Lost: 31 Oct 1961
Cause: Arson
Latitude: N39 50.265
Longitude: W075 34.759
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: Beaver Valley Rd. (CR221), off route 100, 100 yards south of the Pennsylvania state line. Northeast of Granogue.

Smith's Bridge, Brandywine Hundred-Christiana Hundred, New Castle County, DE Built 1839 Arson 31 Oct 1961
Thomas Kipphorn Collection

Smith's Bridge, Brandywine Hundred-Christiana Hundred, New Castle County, DE Built 1839 Arson 31 Oct 1961
Carl Cranmer Photo, Probably June 1946, NSPCB Archives

Smith's Bridge, Brandywine Hundred-Christiana Hundred, New Castle County, DE Built 1839 Arson 31 Oct 1961
Herbert Richter Photo, February 25, 1962, NSPCB Archives

Smith's Bridge, Brandywine Hundred-Christiana Hundred, New Castle County, DE Built 1839 Arson 31 Oct 1961
Herbert Richter Photo, January 8, 1955, NSPCB Archives

Comments:
County #9. The first covered bridge at this location cost $5446. The bridge was named for Isaac Smith who, with Joseph Brinton, operated a flour and grist mill nearby. It was closed in 1954 after being damaged by an "excessively heavy truck". In 1955, it was re-sided, re-roofed, and re-painted at a cost of $43,125. Pictures from that time show that two support piers had been added. Three youths were each fined $500 for the Halloween 1961 arson and placed on three years’ probation. The bridge was rebuilt at the time as a stringer with a wooden deck. The replacement bridge, built in 2002, includes a Burr truss, but rests atop steel I-Beams.

Sources:
McNinch, Marjorie G.. Bridges, 1995, pages 22-24
Allen, Richard Sanders. Covered Bridges of the Middle Atlantic States, 1959, page 43
Clough, Philip & Betsy. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 1959, page 6
Connecticut River Valley Covered Bridge Society meeting minutes, June 21, 1964
Connecticut River Valley Covered Bridge Society. Bulletin, Volume IV, no. 1, Summer 1957, page 1

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