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OLDTOWN TOLL BRIDGE

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1937–1938. Greenspring Rd. across the Potomac River
  • default (Alexander Heilner)
  • default (Alexander Heilner)
  • default (Alexander Heilner)
  • (Alexander Heilner)
  • (Alexander Heilner)
  • default (Alexander Heilner)
  • (Alexander Heilner)

Just beyond the C&O Canal is the Potomac River and a toll bridge providing ready access to Greensprings, West Virginia. It was built by Melvin R. Carpenter, a tie inspector for the B&O Railroad who was motivated by the need to make regular trips into Greensprings that would otherwise require a ferry or a car ride to the nearest bridge 15 miles away. The 200-foot-long, 10-foot-wide bridge is built of steel beams resting on concrete pilings and carrying a roadbed of oak planks custom-made at a local sawmill. A toll booth still collects a fee for use; it is the only privately owned toll bridge in the state.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie
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Data

What's Nearby

MICHAEL CRESAP HOUSE
CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO CANAL, PAW PAW TUNNEL
Fort Ashby
BREAKNECK VALLEY
Mount Bethel Presbyterian Church

Citation

Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie, "OLDTOWN TOLL BRIDGE", [Oldtown, Maryland], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MD-01-WM47.

Print Source

Buildings of Maryland, Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2022, 366-367.

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