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Parr's (Paar's) Mill, Columbia County

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

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Inventory Number: PA/38-19-29
County: Columbia County
Township: Franklin
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Parr's (Paar's) Mill
Crosses: Roaring Creek, North Branch
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 84', 84'-3" overall, 67' span
Roadway Width: 12'-2"
Built: 1865
Builder: F.L. Shuman
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N40 54.377
Longitude: W076 28.357
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 2.9 miles south-southwest of jct PA442 on PA87 then 0.3 miles left on Ashton Hollow Rd. (SR3003) and just left on Parrs Mill Rd. (TR371). 3.5 miles south of Catawissa.

Parr's Mill Bridge, Cleveland-Franklin Built 1865
© Lisa Plamondon

Washington Parr's (Paar's) Mill Bridge, Franklin, Columbia County, PA. Built 1865
Bill Caswell Photo, October 10, 2010

Comments:
County #10. 8-panel truss. Also known as Washington Parr's (Paar's) Mill Bridge. Per The Star of the North (Bloomsburg), November 8, 1865, "BRIDGE LETTING. - THE County Commissioners will receive proposals at the house of John L. Hurst, in Slabtown, Columbia County, between the hours of 10 A.M. and 3 P. M., on SATURDAY, THE 2d DAY OF DECEMBER, next, for building an Arch Covered Bridge, over Roaringcreek, near G. W. Parr's Mill, in Franklin township. Said bridge to be 67 feet between abutments; width 16 feet. The abutments are already built, except altering face for Skewback. Plan and Specification can be seen on the day and place of letting. By order of the Com'rs. R. C. FRUIT, Clerk. Commissioners' Office, Bloomsburg, Nov. 8, 1865." It was built in 1865 by F.L. Shuman for $1275.00 and is located in Franklin Township, very close to the border with Cleveland Township to the south, on Parr's Mill Road. This road and what is now Birch Lane (T371) were an old arm of the former LR19004, now SR3003. When LR19004 was relocated, Parr's Mill Road was also designated T371. The stream splits into two separate channels and reconverges a short distance downstream. The covered bridge spans the north channel and an iron pony truss bridge spans the southern channel. It is not immediately known if the iron bridge site was ever a covered bridge.

Sources:
Evans, Benjamin D. & June R.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges, 2001, page 108
The Star of the North (Bloomsburg), November 8, 1865, p.2.
Travis, Dale. Pennsylvania Covered Bridges List, updated to 26 Aug 2004, http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbpa.htm (23 Sep 2004)
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, May 2006
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 110

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