A photograph of the covered bridge over the Wiconisco Creek on the highway from Elizabethville to Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The origin and date of the photograph is unknown. Presumably, the buildings beyond the bridge are in the village of Loyalton.
Just when this bridge was built is unclear, but there is a story of how and why it was demolished. In late 1931, the bridge caught fire and was structurally damaged as result. The believed cause of the fire, although never proven, was a lit cigarette which was flicked from a passing car. In order to repair the bridge, the State Highway Department had to detour traffic on one of the busiest roads in Upper Dauphin County. This was the main cross-county route from Millersburg on the Susquehanna River to Pottsville.
On 28 December 1931, the Harrisburg Evening News, provided the following explanation:
Announce Detour
The State Highway Department this afternoon announced a detour effective tomorrow morning, on route No. 209, between Elizabethville and Loyalton, which is made necessary by improvements to a bridge over the Wiconisco Creek near Loyalton. The detour will be 8.4 miles in length and will be by way of Berrysburg.
The Highway Department was flooded with protests because of the interruption of commerce and the time it took to navigate the detour – which went from the west side of Loyalton over to Berrysburg and then returned via the Crossroads into Loyalton. Instead of repairing the bridge,the decision was made to shorten the detour and to completely change the bridge design. The roof and wooden sides were removed, steel beams were put in place to reinforce the roadbed, and guardrails were anchored to the edges. Records of the time give evidence that the cost was $3000, and that 25 men did the work under the supervision of Harry A. Long of Port Royal, Juniata County, Pennsylvania.
Several interesting stories have been found about this bridge, including one involving a young German sympathizer around the time of World War I. Raymond Fisher, who had relatives in Germany, was one of many area residents who hung around at the general store at the main square in Loyalton. After the store closed he walked across the bridge to his home at Fisher’s Mill. Because his attitude toward Germany was not welcomed in the community, some other young men decided to play a trick on him. A straw effigy of a German soldier was hung in the roof rafters of the bridge and dropped on him as he passed through the bridge one dark evening. Supposedly, this terrified young Raymond and he never again spoke of Germany or the war again. Note: Fisher’s Mill was located along the west bank of the creek, down a dirt road just out of view of the lower left corner of the picture.
An interesting fact about the Wiconisco Creek at this location is that every time the creek flooded due to heavy rains, this spot was one of the worst to get damaged. It still is today. Although the covered bridge apparently survived many years and was finally taken out by a fire, there are records showing that it was damaged many times by raging flood waters, in particular in two great 19th century floods of 1886 and 1889 which hit the Lykens Valley. At that time, the homes surrounding the bridge were also severely damaged.
Perhaps the worst damage at this location occurred in 1972 with Hurricane Agnes, which devastated much of Upper Dauphin County. A well-known photograph exists of a home that was split in two by the flooding. The home was adjacent to the concrete and steel bridge of the time (which replaced the old wooden covered bridge in 1932), which also suffered greatly from the hurricane. And, that storm severely damaged several other covered bridges that remained in the area, including Loyalton‘s other covered bridge known as the Oakdale Bridge which crossed the same creek just south of the main intersection in Loyalton. It was totally smashed and swept away by the hurricane and floods.
One of the most recent storms which occurred in 2011, severely damaged a restaurant and bar adjacent to the creek. That business had stood at that location for many years and was a popular spot for locals. Although the building is still there, it has been condemned and vacant in its present condition and for the past five years no one has come forward to attempt to rehabilitate it.
The date of the photograph above has not been determined and much research still needs to be done on this bridge. Blog readers are invited to assist.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
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