Standing the Test of Time

"Keep these bridges in proper repair and they will last as long as any. They have stood many hard knocks for a long time." —Elmer E. Piper, Washington County Surveyor, 1920s.

This graceful, five-arch structure, spanning historic Conococheague Creek, is the oldest stone bridge in Washington County. The Army Corps of Engineers only required stone piers with a wooden superstructure, but the local government insisted the bridge be constructed entirely of native limestone.

Completed in 1919, at a cost of $12,000, it was the first of thirty stone bridges constructed in Washington County prior to the end of the Civil War. This 210-foot bridge, with two-foot thick walls above the roadbed, carried National Road traffic for nearly 120 years until the realignment of U.S. Route 40 in 1937.

(sidebar) People Preserving their Past. "If you went out there and stood in the dark, you could hear small rocks gradually sloping into the creek." —Glenn Dull , Washington County Engineer, 1982. Tropical Storm Agnes produced one of theworst floods in the Great Valley of Maryland.Raging waters completely submerged thebridge leaving gaping holes in the stonesuperstructure. Demolition was recommendedbut county residents raised an outcry. Acoalition of local historical societies, countygovernment and the Maryland Historical Trustunited to obtain funding to restore the bridge.

(photo caption) The crumbling remains of the middle arches in 1982. LeRoy Myers, Sr., a Clear Spring contractor and stone mason, restored thebridge.

(photo caption) Row's Amusement Park attracted thousands toWilson's Bridge during the first half of the 20thcentury. The park featured rides, bath houses, anopen-air theatre, a dance/ball room and a popularsliding board.

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