Abandoned bridge in Bound Brook

The road is South main St, route 527. If you come from South Bound Brook you cross the Raritan, then the Port Reading branch and immediately on your right is a driveway to some company or trucking warehouse. That driveway now covers most of the original bridge deck and paving and when the building was put up most of the original stream bed was obliterated and the fill dumped in to the stream bed covered most of the bridge. What you see now, on the southern side of the bridge, is the bottom of the curved stone arch which served as the bridge piers but the rest of the bridge is still intact under the ruble. It seems to have been a substantial structure and it had to be as the Swift Stage Coach Company used it as part of its regular route from the Delaware Valley, West Jersey to the Raritan Valley in East Jersey. During the Revolution both armies regularly used this route and it rougly parallels, and originaly was, what became US 202 whose modern roadbed was constructed in the early 20th Century. You can actually see the intact original bridge in a book entitiled Along the Old York Road by James Cawley. The photograph shows the bridge in good relief with a circa 1950 car parked along side. It was the railroad that changed the importance of the bridge and Old York Road. Some years ago I tried to interest Rutgers and the state historical society into doing something to mark and preserve the site but other than the battlefield marker a few yards from the bridge nothing has been done. Since it may indeed be the oldest man made structure in NJ that's a shame.

P.S. If you go to Bing Maps and go to its greatest magnifcation as birdseye photo image look just to the right of the high tension tower and you can see some of the stone arches. The stone bridge marker has the bridge authorized in 1683 but not built until 1731. That 1731 date is the latest date possible for its construction as it is attested to in documents but it may have been built closer to the earliest date or modified from an original, now lost, wooden bridge. A very similar stone arch bridge was defintely constructed in the Holmesburg community in Phila. county in the 1680's over the Pennypack creek on what is now Frankford Ave., US route 13 just a few yards north of where the PRR crossed that road following the Pennypack Valley ( Conrail Shared Assets still uses this line). The two bridges are so similar in appearance that I think the 1680's date for the actual construction of the Bound Brook Bridge is quite plausible. Whatever, it's fun to find and i.d. these relics of a pre railroad transportation technology.

Sorry that this might be straying off topic, but im a bit of a bridge buff too - i had no idea this bridge was here - its amazing to me that this bridge is in that location, and by the looks of it, handles pretty heavy truck traffic day in adn day out - sure not as much traffic as a public road, but never the less....

I like finding old abandoned roads and right of ways and seeing where roads (and railroads) once ran, and to try to figure out how/why things are the way they are today.

kevikens wrote:P.S. If you go to Bing Maps and go to its greatest magnifcation as birdseye photo image look just to the right of the high tension tower and you can see some of the stone arches. The stone bridge marker has the bridge authorized in 1683 but not built until 1731. That 1731 date is the latest date possible for its construction as it is attested to in documents but it may have been built closer to the earliest date or modified from an original, now lost, wooden bridge. A very similar stone arch bridge was defintely constructed in the Holmesburg community in Phila. county in the 1680's over the Pennypack creek on what is now Frankford Ave., US route 13 just a few yards north of where the PRR crossed that road following the Pennypack Valley ( Conrail Shared Assets still uses this line). The two bridges are so similar in appearance that I think the 1680's date for the actual construction of the Bound Brook Bridge is quite plausible. Whatever, it's fun to find and i.d. these relics of a pre railroad transportation technology.

I did do that and yes, the arch is clearly visibile - i was surprised with how large the arch is! I thought it might be a small arch but that looks to be at least a 15-20 foot arch!

Gonna definitely get out and take a peek before the growth really sets in....

Where did the road go from east of there? I can see how it would connect with the "current" Old York Road in Raritan, but what bout east from there? Does the Lehigh Line roughly follow it or does it pick up at South Ave in Middlesex? It looks like a rough ROW roughly paralleling the LL, after the curve in Middlesex, where the Middlesex label is, and then meeting up with South Ave? I know the RR came later (that sounds weird, not usually the case), so its hard to see the RR as not a "landmark" reference as "'always" being there.....

IIRC, the RDG spur bridge across the Raritan was only removed about 5 years ago as part of the area's flood control project. It was claimed that it contributed to the flooding caused by Hurricane Floyed by allowing a build up of flotsam and debris on its piers. That may be true, but the natural bend in the river at that location, along with the confluence of the Green Brook, is likely more to blame. The spur's connection to the RDG across River Road was also removed just a few years ago when an environmental clean up required the removal of the spur's fill.

As for the Old Stone Arch Bridge, there are sometimes re-enactments of the skirmish at the location. Both Bound Brooks try to keep their revolutionary war histories alive with limited success. Just up the road is the Middlebrook encampment where Betsy Ross's first Stars and Stripes is said to have flown, which made Flag Day a big event in Bound Brook.

if u zoom in on bing maps to the reading bridge, its there on one level of zooming, but gone the next its actually pretty cool to see how its there and then gone so quickly

I don't know for sure where the original roadbed of the Old York Road went after leaving Bound Brook. Of course it was to connect the cities of Phila. (where the original route is still called Old York Road) and New York so it probably proceeded east to a point on the Jersey Shore opposite NYC, I believe the road terminated at a ferry in Elizabeth(town). Looking at the old Lehigh Valley Line it may be that it's road bed closely followed the original highway. I am going to try to look at a colonial era map for the road and superimpose a map of the Lehigh Valley and see if that is so. I'll tell you what i find when I do.

I found the map i was looking for (google colonial map new jersey. About five entries down you will see "you found it map of Nj 1769". it clearly shows the Old York road going north northeast out of Phila, crossing the Delaware near lambertville, going through Raritan, where it still is the Old York Road through Bound Brook and then almost due east through Westfield and then a jog north to Elizabeth(town). From Bound brook it actually looks like it was the Reading's Port Reading branch that followed the old highway, not the Lehigh Valley. I think NJ 28 may be the modern day remnant as you head east.

Just a note on the Bing map of the bridge,if you zoom in,as was said,the bridge goes away,however,if you use your mouse and drag the picture to the left side of your monitor,off center,you can zoom in on the bridge even closer.Works for me

wow kevin thats awesome thanks for the update

I zoomed all the way in in bing, then zoomed in on my browser to about 250 percent adn it was clear as day. That extra zoom from the browser really helps.

JLo wrote:As for the Old Stone Arch Bridge, there are sometimes re-enactments of the skirmish at the location. Both Bound Brooks try to keep their revolutionary war histories alive with limited success. Just up the road is the Middlebrook encampment where Betsy Ross's first Stars and Stripes is said to have flown, which made Flag Day a big event in Bound Brook.

Some more information regarding the Battle of Bound Brook, and the old stone bridge: http://www.staatshouse.org/battleofboundbrook/ The reenactment is being held on April 9th and 10th this year. The street action and bridge action will occur on the 9th, with a ceremony at the old stone bridge.

To bring this back to somewhat on topic for railroad.net - The local offices of emergency management has been tapped to 'keep people off the tracks' when they do the ceremony at the old stone bridge.

BTW, I was out exploring the area today and checked out the bridge - its a shame its filled in to above the arches, but its a pretty big structure, i was surprised how long it was! Thanks for the info on it, it was a lot of fun to find and explore, and also explored the branch line bridge over the canal and the South Main Street bridge over the canal, and looked at the draw mechanisms - that was fun too. Ive never see a draw swing span up close like that that wasn't centered! It was really cool. I had no idea there was so much history in that area. The milemarker on the canal was cool too.

JT, NJ does a lousy job of advertising its critical role in the Revolution and creation of this nation. Washington and the Continental Army spent more time in NJ than any other colony. The retreat across NJ in 1776 and the Morristown encampment, not Valley Forge, were the lowest points of the Revolution, where the Army was just hanging on by a thread. If not for local farmers, the Army would have starved to death at Morristown. Washington's Trenton and Princeton campaigns were absolutely brilliant and daring and saved the Army and the cause, yet they get second-rate treatment. NJ was the scene of some bitter partisan fighting, between loyalists and patriots, especially in Bergen County. NJ's last royal governor was Ben Franklin's son, who remained loyal to the crown. Ben Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge met with General Howe at Perth Amboy to discuss a settlement. While he sat talking with them, on his desk were their signed death warrants issued by the King. The only signer of the Declaration of Independence to be captured by the British, Richard Stockton, was captured at a dinner in Monmouth County. His mansion, Morven, was looted and burned, and he essentially lived in poverty the rest of his life, having given everything to the Revolution. NJ was also the main location of the Colonies' iron industry that made the bullets, cannons and guns for the effort.

I recommend everyone read "Washington's Crossing" by David Hackett Fischer, which is the story of the retreat from NY through the victory at Princeton. The names and locations should be familiar to us all.

Okay, end of rant.

JLo wrote:JT, NJ does a lousy job of advertising its critical role in the Revolution and creation of this nation. Washington and the Continental Army spent more time in NJ than any other colony. The retreat across NJ in 1776 and the Morristown encampment, not Valley Forge, were the lowest points of the Revolution, where the Army was just hanging on by a thread. If not for local farmers, the Army would have starved to death at Morristown. Washington's Trenton and Princeton campaigns were absolutely brilliant and daring and saved the Army and the cause, yet they get second-rate treatment. NJ was the scene of some bitter partisan fighting, between loyalists and patriots, especially in Bergen County. NJ's last royal governor was Ben Franklin's son, who remained loyal to the crown. Ben Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge met with General Howe at Perth Amboy to discuss a settlement. While he sat talking with them, on his desk were their signed death warrants issued by the King. The only signer of the Declaration of Independence to be captured by the British, Richard Stockton, was captured at a dinner in Monmouth County. His mansion, Morven, was looted and burned, and he essentially lived in poverty the rest of his life, having given everything to the Revolution. NJ was also the main location of the Colonies' iron industry that made the bullets, cannons and guns for the effort.

I recommend everyone read "Washington's Crossing" by David Hackett Fischer, which is the story of the retreat from NY through the victory at Princeton. The names and locations should be familiar to us all.

Okay, end of rant.

i know I'm taking this further off topic, but JLo that was an excellent rant! New Jersey did play a vital role in the revolution which is indeed overlooked by the state. Just to add don't forget about the vital role Sandy Hook and the Highlands played!

The bridge serviced the Ruberoid Company, makers of roof shingles.