Messiah College's bridge, the last covered bridge touching York County, straddles Yellow Breeches Creek. It connects Cumberland and York counties. The college's athletic fields are located on the York County side. The bridge, seen here in this Wikipedia photo, was moved upstream to the college from Bowmansdale. Background link: Photo collection adds to historical record.
Dallastown's John Fishel is concerned that the Minnesota bridge collapse will spell the end of local steel truss bridges - those big, picturesque, bridges with the overhead beams.
These impressive bridges will be replaced by blander, modern bridges in the name of safety. Perhaps some could be left standing, he wrote.
York County has lost all but one of its covered bridges in the course of modernization. Meanwhile, Lancaster managed to hang onto 29 of its covered structures... .
According to Fishel's count, York County has 11 truss bridges with beams overhead.
"Perhaps some publicity will convince those with the power to do so to at the very least acquire land (eminent domain again, I know) to bypass these bridges and let them stand as they did with the N. George St./York Haven Rd. bridge," he wrote.
"Or at least some publicity will convince those who care about such things to take a Sunday drive over these bridges while they still can," he added.
The most noteworthy steel truss bridge left standing is a railroad bridge, topic of labor leader Dick Boyd's "The Bridge". That York bridge is the symbolic place where the modern labor movement started in York.
Here's Fishel's list of York County steel truss highway bridges with overhead beams:
• Green Lane Drive, over the Yellow Breeches Creek (Fairview Twp./Lower Allen Twp., Cumberland County line) .
• Sheep Ford Road over the Yellow Breeches Creek (Fairview Twp./Lower Allen Twp., Cumberland County line).• Bishop Road/Gilbert Road over the Yellow Breeches Creek (Monaghan Twp./Upper Allen Twp., Cumberland County line) -- there were two steel truss bridges on this road as the road crosses the Yellow Breeches twice; one remains, but the other is currently being dismantled and replaced with eminent domain being used to acquire land to accommodate the new bridge from the unhappy bridge neighbors who didn't want the nearby picturesque bridge replaced -- why no publicity on this eminent domain case?
• Hull Drive over the Bermudian Creek (Washington Twp.)
• Big Mount Road over the Conewago Creek (two of them in a row over two parallel branches of the creek with an island in the middle; one is in Dover Twp. and one is on the Dover Twp./Washington Twp. line.
• Sheep Bridge Road over the Conewago Creek (Conewago Twp./Newberry Twp. line).
• Old York Road/ Bridge St. over the Yellow Breeches Creek (Fairview Twp./New Cumberland Borough, Cumberland County line).
• Bowers Bridge Road over the Little Conewago Creek (East Manchester Twp./Conewago Twp. line).
• Bairs Mill Road over Kreutz Creek (Hellam Twp.).
• North George St. Ext./York Haven Road over the Conewago Creek (East Manchester Twp./Newberry Twp. line).
My name is Chris Bowman, one of the Bowman's whose namesake is Bowmansdale. I grew up playing on the Iron bridges crossing the Yellow Breeches near Grantham College. The covered bridge now crossing the Yellow Breeches on the college campus at Grantham was next to our farm house home on the York county side of the Yellow Breeches. That covered bridge still has my initials carved in it. CWB.
The Iron bridges stood the test of time as so many floods tried to crack the bridges with floating downed trees and other flotsom. I hope the design is considered as I can first hand testify, they stand the test of time and mother nature. As I write this now living in Los Angeles, CA, I long for the days of floating down the Yellow Breeches catching fish and exploring as kids do.
Chris Bowman