Covered turnpike bridge and trolley bridge at Ellicott Mills

A circa 1909 photograph shows the trolley bridge (on the left) and the covered bridge (for the road) crossing over the Patapsco to Baltimore County.



Covered bridge for turnpike

The picture of the covered bridge is from a 1854 panoramic scene drawn from the Baltimore County side. A small part of the mill race is the blue in the right lower corner, then the turnpike road with a horse and carriage headed towards the bridge over the Patapsco River.  A train is pictured on the Oliver Viaduct (stone bridge) crossing over the turnpike/Main St.

Although there were earlier turnpike bridges, the first covered bridge to cross the Patapsco was built around 1850 then destroyed in 1866. A second covered bridge was built only to be destroyed in the great flood of 1868. It was replaced in 1870 by a third one which burnt down in 1914.  A concrete bridge was built and had to be replaced after the 1972 Tropical Storm Agnes.  The Patapsco River is tough on bridges.  

Trolley bridge of 1899
The remains of the trolley bridge on the BC side, and the trolley trail starts at the two green trees behind the rocks.

 

The path is a constant incline, as the trolley grade would require, and cut through the rocks.

Many images of the bridges at HERE and HERE

©2017 Patricia Bixler Reber
Forgotten history of Ellicott City & Howard County MD