Old Stone Arch Bridge (Bound Brook, New Jersey)

The Old Stone Arch Bridge is the second-oldest extant bridge in the United States, after the Frankford Avenue Bridge (built in 1697)[3] over Pennypack Creek in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as the oldest bridge in New Jersey.

Old Stone Arch Bridge
Old Stone Arch Bridge
LocationRailroad Avenue, approximately 194 feet east of South Main Street
Bound Brook, New Jersey
Coordinates40°33′38″N 74°31′37″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1730 (1730)
Architectural styleStone Arch bridge
NRHP reference No.08000550[1]
NJRHP No.4773[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 27, 2008
Designated NJRHPMay 7, 2008

The Old Stone Arch Bridge was built in 1731 spanning the Green Brook, connecting Bound Brook (Somerset County) and Middlesex Borough (Middlesex County) in northern central New Jersey; it carried the "Great Road Up Raritan" laid out in 1681 that was created by an act of the assembly of the province of East Jersey.[4] In 1764 the colonial highway, west of what is now Lambertville on The Delaware River and east of Elizabethtown Point on Newark Bay, was christened Old York Road, as the highway representing the shortest route between Philadelphia and New York City (reached by ferry). It was built shortly after the "King's Highway" and called a variety of names, but it was most prominently known as the "Upper Road" when the Assunpink Trail was widened.[5] The bridge allowed farmers, plantation owners and everyone else west and north of the Raritan River a direct and practical route to the colonial ports of New Brunswick and Raritan Landing. Since the early 1870s, the Old Stone Arch Bridge has been buried up to the parapets, due to construction of a railroad embankment.

Description

The bridge, made from supposedly locally quarried rough-hewn masonry and stone, is a classic, 3-arch edifice; the center span is approximately 17.9 feet wide and two side arches are approximately 12 feet 6 inches and 12 feet 3 inches, to the west and east respectively. Only an obscure sign, often hidden behind weeds and wild bushes and large trucks and trailers that park alongside it, identifies what lies beneath. The roadway between the exposed south and non-visible north parapet, which might at some point have been widened, is approximately 26 feet in width. It possesses an overall length of about 79 feet 6 inches, making it even longer than the famous Pennypack Creek Bridge. Currently only the south parapet and a varying-sized spandrel, 4 feet in the center and 6 feet at each end, is visible. This is believed to indicate that prior to the flattening of the original roadway, it was a typical humpback or camelback bridge.[6] A concrete barrier, similarly to those used on many highways, was installed several years ago to protect the south parapet.[6]

The novelty of the bridge remains additionally reinforced via the fact that the first bridges in New Jersey, constructed within colonial times, were a few logs dropped across a stream with sawn timbers fastened to them to provide a flat, relatively even surface, with the occasional inclusion of a handrail. Most were funded by local municipalities.[7][8] Today in New Jersey, almost exclusively in the central and northern portions of the state in or close to mountainous terrain where stone is abundant, numerous stone arch bridges exist, the large majority of which were constructed between the 1820s and early 1900s. There are few in the southern portions of the state, perhaps resulting from smaller quantities of congestion and less abundant stone.

Endangered status

Due to the burial of the bridge for greater than 140 years, it is listed by Preservation New Jersey as one of the "10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in New Jersey".[9] However, Somerset County, according to its Cultural and Heritage Commission, has invested almost $100,000[10] with full cooperation from its neighbouring Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission[11] to unearth and restore the state's most historic bridge; the county has assumed responsibility for the structure. The bridge was additionally placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Communities

The centre of the bridge is the border between the Somerset and Middlesex Counties and the interior boroughs of Bound Brook and Middlesex.[12]; during the construction of the bridge in 1731, Bound Brook Borough was part of Bridgewater and Middlesex Borough remained part of Piscataway.[13][14]

Byways which crossed the bridge

Among the initially primary highways constructed in the state of New Jersey, the Camden Turnpike, the Amboy Turnpike and sectors of the modern Cranbury Road remained the first 3 primary highways in the state; the third member of this group comprised a sector of the modern River Road, which, though it was not a significant highway prior to the American Revolutionary War, crossed the Old Stone Arch Bridge, as sectors of the highway separated northeast to modern Dunellen, turning west, continuing southwest to the point where it crossed the bridge and proceeding to the division point of the northern and southern branches of the river at Branchburg. From there it followed a variety of existing roads southwest toward the Delaware River; further evidence that the highway was known by that name was provided in 1936 by Cornelius C. Vermeule in his Raritan Landing That Was, 1675–1875 (1936) which provided a road map he drew to recreate the route.[15][16][17] These routes were accompanied at the time via the modern road known as State Route 27, south of Princeton, New Jersey, which originally extended to Salem; designated the "Old Salem Road", the portion of the route which crossed the bride carries the name today, though the route possesses several additional names, including the "Asapink Trail," "Upper Road," "Old Dutch Road" and the "Lincoln Highway". It was originally known as "Lawrie's Road" or "Lower Road"; the third member constituted what is a portion of today's River Road, extending from Piscataway to Bound Brook.[3]

As early as the late 17th century, starting in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, a highway, known as Old York Road, began from Philadelphia to New Hope on the Delaware River across from one of the major ferries to New Jersey.[17] The highway was conceived by a petition to Governor Charles Gookin and his council in 1691 by the Cheltenham settlers, asking that a road be built between the Delaware River and Philadelphia, resulting in a 1711 survey.[18] From 1711 to 1772 it was constructed and ran from Central Philadelphia to Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth) Point. The main road still exists under a variety of other names, but a large portion still has that name in Pennsylvania and New Jersey from Lambertville to Hillsborough[19] It was formally accepted and authorized after a 1762 road survey conducted by Somerset County that ended with its eastern terminus in that county as "to middle of Bound Brook Stone Bridge".[20]

Being the shortest route from Philadelphia to New York City, Old York Road was selected by the Swift Sure Stagecoach line, a stagecoach company which was granted a franchise via the 2 states.[21] It ran well into the middle of the 19th century, until the development of efficient railroad lines. The Old Stage Inn on Front Street and Park Avenue in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, built in 1737, was one of the original taverns and stage coach stops, known as"ordinaries", where mail was dropped off and passengers could receive food, drink, additional perishables and rest for the duration of the night; it currently remains in business south of U.S 22, with a memorial marker on a small boulder next to a flagpole on Front Street just in front of the inn.

Impact of the Raritan Landing

The Old Stone Arch Bridge needed to be built in the first place for no greater reason than the fact the Green Brook presented an uncrossable obstacle for hunters, farmers, tradesmen and all other travelers between northwest New Jersey and all points west who chose to follow the major east–west river in the state.

The old highway is memorialized in Hunterdon County, NJ

In the early 18th century, traveling along the northern bank of the Raritan westward from Somerset County required crossing the Green Brook, which divided above its confluence with the Raritan River it from Middlesex County. Unlike many other rivers and waterway crossings in the colonies, and New Jersey in particular, there was no established ferry. So it was literally impossible to cross the brook without taking an extremely long and time-consuming northern bypass. This became particularly a problem because of the emergence of the ports of New Brunswick and Raritan Landing across from each other on the river.

Raritan Landing emerged as a vital port community during the 1720s. It was situated at the farthest inland point on the Raritan River that could be navigated by merchant ships of the day. In its heyday, the landing was the center for local trade and, along with New Brunswick, served as a hub for imports and exports to and from the Raritan Valley. By the 1740s, there were approximately 70 structures and more than 100 inhabitants. By the end of the Revolutionary War it had become insignificant, after being ravished by the invading British armies and overshadowed by New Brunswick, where the river was deeper.[22]

Burial

The Old Stone Arch Bridge is obscurely located along what is no more than a rough road driveway to a warehouse occupied by trucking company. The third oldest-span stone arch bridge that carries the historic Kings Highway over Stony Brook between Princeton and Lawrenceville was built in 1792, and although after the colonial era, it is part of an early and important regional thoroughfare.

The Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission, the Board of Chosen Freeholders in the county and their site coordinator, Thomas d'Amico, commissioned a feasibility study that included excavating portions of the structure that were buried in the early 1870s, when the second of three railroad lines passed via Bound Brook.[23] The results were that they found the bridge, despite its burial for greater than approximately 140 years; the portion of the brook it spanned it, which flowed into the Raritan River approximately 100 yards to the south, was at that same time redirected, allowing for the formation of dry ground beneath the bridge.

Rediscovery and proposed unearthing and preservation

The bridge additionally remained significant for approximately 140 years prior to its burial; however, its significance ended when, during the early 1870s, it was superseded as the premiere land route across the Green Brook via newly constructed railroads. However, it is planned for memorialisation as the central point of what has been suggested to be the Old Stone Bridge Park by the borough.[24] Until recently even its approximate date of construction remained uncertain, but state records have now been found that validate its approximate building date, with the provincial legislature authorising the construction of a bridge within the area in 1727 and 1728: "There shall be a Bridge built over the Bound-Brook, in the most commodious place on the North-East-Side of the Road, as it now lies from Piscataway, in the County of Middlesex, up Raritan River".[25] Construction of this bridge reportedly had not begun by 1730, when the legislature passed a supplementary act to clarify the intent of the earlier law regarding the Bound Brook bridge: “Whereas the Bridge to be built over Bound Brook... has hitherto met with Obstructions, arising from Mistakes concerning the Meaning and Intention of the said [1727/28] Act: ... That as soon as conveniently may be after the Publication of this Act, there shall be a Bridge built over the Bound Brook, on the most commodious Place on the North East Side of the Road now used, as it lies from Piscataway, in the County of Middlesex, up Raritan River, which Road, as the same is now [utilised], shall be deemed and taken for the Road or High-way and good and sufficient Causeways laid... one Third Part at the Expence [sic] of the County of Middlesex. ..The other two Third Parts thereof at the Expence [sic] of the County of Somerset.”[25] No records have been discovered to prove exactly when the bridge was actually constructed, though all evidence points to 1731.

A legislative act of 1760 regulating roads and bridges clearly references this arrangement, stating:

"two Stone Bridges and a Causeway have been built near the Mouth of Bound-Brook"[25]

The second stone bridge referenced in the act was located at the eastern end of the causeway. This structure extended over the tail race for the neighboring gristmill. The exact construction date of the gristmill is unknown; however, it is believed to predate the bridges and causeway. A 1766 map of Somerset County depicts the gristmill on the Raritan Road, upstream from the causeway, and attributes it to "Fields.” Michael Field, a miller and merchant in Bound Brook, was most likely the operator of the gristmill on Green Brook. Field did not then own the property, but the land had belonged to his family as early as the 1720s. The gristmill was likely built either during the tenure of Michael's father, Jeremiah (1729-1747), or his brother, also Jeremiah, prior to 1765[26]

Hunter Research was commissioned by the Army Corps of Engineers, which has been analyzing the problem and gradually attempting to resolve the borough's catastrophic historic flooding disasters to write a brochure entitled "Saving Bound Brook. Where the Green Brook Meets The Raritan" was also commissioned to analyze creating a large historic district about a decade ago. It considered and proposed including the bridge, another at the end of the long-destroyed causeway that spanned the new leg of the Green Brook that flowed into the Raritan and a few other structures on the National Register of Historic Places maintained by the National Park Service. That bridge, a “Warren-truss” iron bridge typical of many that were built, some of which still survive in New Jersey was built in 1894. It replaced a wooden “kings post” crossing that replaced the second stone bridge only a decade before. The company speculated that the kings post bridge only lasted such a short period of time because it was not made to last long being made of wood and because of that was not particularly study. It also theorized that since along this route a trolley service began around the same time operated by the Brunswick Traction Company a larger, stronger structure was needed.[27]

In 1932, with the construction of a larger, more modern bridge financed by both counties along East Main Street which became Lincoln Avenue at its eastern end in Middlesex Borough in Middlesex County, all road traffic was diverted to that bridge. About the same time the trolleys went out of service. The Warren-truss bridge due to wear, probable flooding and what appears to be lack of proper maintenance was considered a hazard and was closed. For all intents and purposes this ended the 301-year life of the original historic Philadelphia to New York City highway that crossed the bridge as that portion of the creek is again impassable as it was before 1731.[28]

Role in the Revolutionary War

Even before all of the information above came to light, the Old Stone Arch Bridge that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 as a national landmark. It achieved that recognition in large part because as most of the small, descriptive sign states, it played an important role in the war. In 1777 a force of British soldiers that had marched under color of darkness during the middle of the night from New Brunswick and surprised the much smaller contingent of American troops and rag-tag militia members in the Battle of Bound Brook. Legend or at least the diary of one of the British soldiers stated that they were held at bay due to 'murderous fire" from their enemy who were positioned in a garrison near the bridge. This minor skirmish apparently lasted no more than "eight to ten minutes" according to his diary when the Americans abandoned their position as more British reinforcements appeared.[27]

Future

If the cultural and heritage commissions and Somerset County and the Borough of Bound Bridge produce a conclusive decision in association with governing bodies within the region, the bridge and a Stone Bridge Park when the bridge is unearthed and restored will be the highlight of a Raritan River Park that will extend the length of that county along the north banks of the River. The combined plans call for an ambitious greenway and park along the entirety of the northern banks of the river within that county and the Borough of Bound Brook Bridge will have and enjoy its historic river front restored, which will necessitate the rerouting of the southern railroad line and removing the embankment that has been a barrier with the riverfront and downtown Bound Brook for over 140 years. [27]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Somerset County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection – Historic Preservation Office. April 5, 2013. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2013.
  3. Frankford Avenue Bridge, Bridgehunter.com
  4. National Register of Historic Places Database, Road Up Raritan Historic District Registration Form http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natregsearchresult.do?fullresult=true&recordid=0
  5. New Jersey Historic Road Survey, New Jersey Department of Transportation, 2011
  6. National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet. Application for listing of Old Stone Arch Bridge. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/08000550_text
  7. New Jersey Historic Highway Roadway Study, New Jersey Department of Transportation, January 2011
  8. New Jersey Historical Bridge Survey” New Jersey Department of Transportation, Bureau of Environmental Analysis, and The Federal Highway Administration, New Jersey Division (September 1994)
  9. 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in New Jersey, Preservation New Jersey http://www.preservationnj.org/site/ExpEng/index.php?/ten_most_12/archive_by_year/2002
  10. Somerset County, New Jersey Cultural and Heritage Commission, http://www.co.somerset.nj.us/publicworks/cultural/
  11. Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission http://www.co.middlesex.nj.us/culturalheritage/index.asp
  12. !Jeffrey Baldwin, Principal Surveyor and Ancient Route Specialist, Somerset County, N.J. Engineering Department
  13. Walter A. De Angelo, Esq., History Buff’s Guide To Middlesex County
  14. Abraham Messler, D.D., C.M, Centennial History of Somerset County, Jameson Publisher, Somerville, NJ 1878
  15. Vermeule, Cornelius C. (1936). "Raritan Landing That Was, 1675–1875".
  16. See also Harold E. Pickersgill and John Patrick Wall History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920,
  17. New Hope, PA, Coryell’s Ferry In the Revolution
  18. Anne de Bennevile Maears, The old York road; and its early associations and biography 1670-1870 (Harper & Brothers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1890)
  19. James and Margaret Cawley. Along The Old York Road, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ (1965)
  20. Emogene Van Sickel, The Old York Road and its Stage Coach Days (1936) and New Jersey State Archives
  21. Emogene Van Sickle The Old York Road and Its Stage Coach Days, D. H. Moureauu Publisher, Flemington, NJ 1936
  22. Cornelius C. Vermeule Raritan Landing That Was, The History of a River Port from 1675 to 1875, originally read before the New Brunswick Historical Club on April 17, 1930
  23. French & Parrello Associates, P.A, Consulting Engineers “Report Feasibility Study for the Rehabilitation of Bridge No. HO 711 Historic Stone Arch Bridge (Circa 1731)
  24. Bound Bridge Redevopement Plan, 2012
  25. Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey, Vol. 2, New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, Trenton, New Jersey)
  26. Hunter Research, Newark, NJ
  27. Evaluating The National Register of Historic Places Eligibility of Three Bridges and A Railroad Spur, June 2002, Hunter Research, Trenton, NJ.
  28. Evaluating The National Register of Historic Places Eligibility of Three Bridges and A Railroad Spur, June 2002, Hunter Research, (Trenton, NJ)
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