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Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

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Rochester or Bridgewater, Beaver County

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Inventory Number: PA/38-04-04x
County: Beaver County
Township: Brighton - Rochester
Town/Village: Bridgewater - Rochester
Bridge Name: Rochester or Bridgewater
Crosses: Beaver River or Big Beaver Creek
Truss type:
Spans:
Length: 648'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1826
Builder: William LeBaron
When Lost: 1884
Cause: Flood
Latitude: N40 42.07
Longitude: W080 17.50
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: On Bridge Street (SR4042), which, on the 1941 Type 10 map was the original crossing of combined Routes 51 and 68 (SRs 0051 and 0068), which has since then been relocated downstream to a new bridge.

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Comments:
The first bridge at this site was erected between Rochester and Bridgewater, under an Act of Assembly approved January 21, 1814 entitled "An Act to authorize the Governor to Incorporate a Company to erect a Toll Bridge over Big Beaver Creek, at or near Wolf Lane in the County of Beaver." No particulars of the early history of this bridge are obtainable, but as the charter was approved, January 21, 1814 and a supplement to the same, dated February 28, 1816, speaks of "the bridge, which has been erected over Big Beaver Creek, near Wolf Lane," it is evident that the actual work was done between 1814 and 1816. This bridge was blown down in a severe wind storm sometime between May 1st and October 18th, 1821. The records of the company show that on April 29, 1824, a resolution was adopted to advertise for bids for the construction of a new bridge and advertisements were made for the same in Warren, Ohio, Beaver, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York and Hartford, Connecticut. July 6, 1824, the contract was let to William LeBaron for $20,000.00 and the work was completed in July, 1826. During the great flood of February, 1884 the bridge at this point was again prey of the elements. The bridge above it at Fallston (PA/38-04-06x) was swept away, and lodging against it, broke it down. Both were swept against the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad Bridge, and carrying it with them, crashed into the great iron bridge of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railway, from which a number of spans were torn away. Following this destruction, a three span Pratt through truss wrought iron bridge was built on the piers and abutments of the covered bridge. This bridge was replaced in 1933 by the present steel bridge on new concrete piers. The three span, 648' long and 35' wide bridge is composed of a 350'-long, riveted Parker through truss main span, a shorter Parker through truss east approach span over the railroad, and a Parker pony truss west approach span. Portions of the stone substructure from the earlier bridge are incorporated into the concrete substructure, which would suggest the covered bridge was close to the same 648' length. The coordinates are at the old site.

Sources:
History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Rev. Joseph H Bausman (1904)
Moll, Fred J.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges - Our Heritage, 2004, pages 76-77

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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