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Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

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Blue Hill or Red, Northumberland 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/38-49-62x / PA-60-10x
County: Northumberland County / Union County
Township: Point - Union
Town/Village: Northumberland - Blue Hill
Bridge Name: Blue Hill or Red
Crosses: West Branch Susquehanna River
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 5
Length: 1300'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1828
Builder: Reuben Field
When Lost: 30 Jun 1923
Cause: Burned
Latitude: N40 53.017
Longitude: W076 47.917
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: On Route 11 (SR0011).

Blue Hill or Red Bridge, Point-Union, Northumberland County, PA. Built 1828 Burned 30 Jun 1923
Todd Clark Collection

Northumberland-Sunbury or West Tandem Bridge (top), Sunbury and Erie West Tandem Railroad Bridge (middle), Blue Hill or Red Bridge (bottom), Canal Bridge (far left), Northumberland Boro, Northumberland County, PA
Thomas G. Kipphorn Collection

Blue Hill or Red Bridge, Point-Union, Northumberland County, PA. Built 1828 Burned 30 Jun 1923
Courtesy Fred Moll

Sunbury East Bridge (foreground right), Sunbury West Bridge (right background) and Blue Hill Bridge (center background)
Richard Sanders Allen Collection, NSPCB Archives

Sunbury East Bridge (foreground right), Sunbury West Bridge (right background) and Blue Hill Bridge (left)
Richard Sanders Allen Collection, NSPCB Archives

Comments:
24-panel truss. The bridge was built in 1828 by Reuben Field under the Burr Arch Truss design. It was 5 spans with a length of 1300' and was also part of the Pennsylvania Canal system. There were pedestrian walkways on both sides of the bridge. The flood of June 1, 1889 knocked out the center spans, but they were replaced within the same year. The entire bridge was destroyed by fire on June 30, 1923. According to the Cattaraugus Republican (Little Valley, NY), June 6, 1923, the bridge had been built in 1826 and had burned before the date of the article, date not specified. Perhaps the loss date was the 3rd.

Sources:
Cattaraugus Republican (Little Valley, NY), June 6, 1923.
Moll, Fred J.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges - Our Heritage, 2004, pages 26, 130-131
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, April 2006

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