{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox bridge |fetchwikidata=coordinates | name = Port Deposit Bridge | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Susquehanna River Islet 3264px.jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = Ruins of piers of Susquehanna River Bridge from the western shore | coordinates = <!-- {{Coord}} --> | os_grid_reference = | carries = | crosses = Susquehanna River | locale = Port Deposit, Maryland | official_name = | other_name = Susquehanna River Bridge | named_for = | owner = | maint = | heritage = | id = | id_type = | website = | preceded = | followed = | design = | material = Wood | material1 = | material2 = | length = 4,170 feet | width = | height = | depth = | traversable = | towpath = | mainspan = 200 ft | number_spans = 18 | piers_in_water = | load = | clearance_above = | clearance_below = | lanes = | life = | num_track = | track_gauge = | structure_gauge = | electrification = | architect = | designer = | contracted_designer = | winner = | engineering = | builder = Susquehanna Bridge and Bank Company | fabricator = Theodore Burr | begin = | complete = | cost = | open = 1817 | inaugurated = | rebuilt = 1828 | collapsed = 1857 | closed = | replaces = | replaced_by = Conowingo Bridge | traffic = | toll = | map_type = | map_relief = | map_dot_label = | map_image = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption = }}
The '''Port Deposit Bridge''' (also known as the '''Susquehanna River Bridge''' or '''Rock Run Toll Bridge''') was the earliest bridge crossing of the Susquehanna River below Columbia, Pennsylvania, providing the first reliable link between the northern and southern United States. The bridge was also the fifth and last of Theodore Burr's Susquehanna crossings. The wooden covered bridge was constructed just north of Port Deposit, Maryland, between 1817 and 1818 and lasted until 1857. It was built and operated by the Susquehanna Bridge and Bank Company.
== History == The site for the bridge was surveyed in 1813.<ref name="year by year">{{cite web |title=Port Deposit: History - Year by Year |url= http://www.portdeposit.org/?a=history_detail |accessdate= 2006-07-21}}</ref> The bridge crossed from north of Port Deposit to just below Rock Run stream in Harford County. The bridge crossed Steel, Roberts, and Wood Islands. Construction of the bridge was started in 1817.<ref name="bank notes">{{cite web |title= Susquehanna Bridge and Bank Company Images |url= http://portdeposit.com/Photos/SusquehannaBankNotes.htm |accessdate= 2006-07-21}}</ref> The bridge was constructed by Theodore Burr, who had just completed work on four Susquehanna bridges in Pennsylvania. The bridge design used his Burr arch truss. "This ultimate achievement of Burr's on the Susquehanna, having in all eighteen 200-foot trussed arch wooden spans, eight between the west shore and a first island, two between that and a second island, and eight more between that and the east shore, and a total length of 4,170 feet, was to be performed in two years. For the years between 1812 and 1818, Burr's trussed arch had been an increasing triumph.".<ref>{{cite web |last= Cummings |first= Hubertus M. |url= https://cip.cornell.edu/DPubS/Repository/1.0/Disseminate/psu.ph/1133213421/body/pdf |title= Theodore Burr and His Bridges Across the Susquehanna |accessdate=2006-08-05}}</ref> The bridge opened in 1818.<ref name="bank notes"/>
On 1 January 1823, friction from an iron-shod sleigh caused a fire that burned large portions of the bridge.<ref name="year by year"/><ref name="bank notes"/> It was rebuilt by Louis Wernwag in 1824.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Anon. |title=HISTORIC HIGHWAY BRIDGES IN MARYLAND: 1631-1960: HISTORIC CONTEXT REPORT |url=https://roads.maryland.gov/OPPEN/Historic%20Highway%20Bridges%20in%20Maryland%20-%201631-1960,%20Historic%20Context%20Report.pdf |website=www.roads.maryland.gov |publisher=Maryland State Highway Administration |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> The bridge operated until 1854, when a herd of cattle caused two spans to collapse.<ref name="year by year"/><ref name="bank notes"/> It remained closed and a large section of the eastern span was destroyed by the spring flood of 1857.<ref name="bank notes"/> It was superseded by the Conowingo Bridge, which reopened in 1859, further upstream.
The ruins of the abutments are still clearly visible from the western shore or [http://msrmaps.com/image.aspx?s=11&lon=-76.1352&lat=39.6140&w=2 from above]. The ''Jersey Toll House'', located at the southwestern end of the bridge, still exists as part of Susquehanna State Park.
== See also == *List of crossings of the Susquehanna River
== References == <references/>
== External links == *[http://portdeposit.com/webimages/sus1832_lg.jpg Drawing of bridge from Susquehanna Bank and Bridge Co. $5 Note]
Category:Covered bridges in Maryland Category:Bridges over the Susquehanna River Category:Bridges completed in 1818 Category:Wooden bridges in Maryland Category:Road bridges in Maryland Category:Former toll bridges in Maryland Category:Burr Truss bridges in the United States Category:Bridges in Cecil County, Maryland