Rockville Bridge
Marysville, Perry County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The longest stone masonry arch railroad bridge in the world, one mile to the south, was built 1900-02. With forty-eight arches, it has a length of 3,820 feet. This was the third bridge constructed here by the Pennsylvania Railroad. A wooden structure had been built 1847-49, followed by an iron bridge in 1877.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
At the turn of the 20th century the Pennsylvania Railroad was one of the mightiest corporations on earth, and it needed to move ever-heavier freight across the Susquehanna. Its answer, completed in 1902, was a colossal forty-eight-arch stone span—the longest stone masonry arch railroad bridge ever built. It was the third crossing at this spot, replacing a wooden bridge of the 1840s and an iron one of 1877, each outgrown as rail traffic exploded.
Why it matters
The Rockville Bridge is a monument to the golden age of American railroading, when engineering ambition and industrial muscle reshaped the landscape to keep a booming nation's freight moving.
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Nearby & related markers
Rockville Bridge
Susquehanna Township, PA · est. 2010
At the dawn of the 20th century, the Pennsylvania Railroad built the Rockville Bridge across the Susquehanna—a 3,820-foot span of forty-eight stone arches that remains the longest stone masonry arch railroad bridge in the world. Completed in 1902, it was the third crossing the railroad raised at this spot, succeeding a wooden bridge of the 1840s and an iron one of 1877. Its massive, graceful arches testify to an age when the Pennsylvania Railroad was among the mightiest corporations on earth.
Henszey's Wrought Iron Arch Bridge
East Pennsboro Township, PA · est. 2004
Patented in 1869 by Joseph G. Henszey and built the same year by Philadelphia's Continental Bridge Co., this wrought iron bowstring arch truss is an early survivor of the bridge-building boom that followed the Civil War. It first carried traffic over Trout Creek in Slatington, was relocated in 1900 to span Ontelaunee Creek, and in 2002 moved again to Summerdale to carry pedestrians. Few of its kind remain.
Pennsylvania Canal (Eastern Division)
Reed Township, PA · est. 1952
The Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, built between 1826 and 1833, carried iron, coal, and lumber along the lower Susquehanna and remained in use until 1901. Here at the old Clark's Ferry towpath bridge, canal boats crossed the wide river to continue their journeys. The Lykens Valley coal trade fed into the system from the east by way of the Wiconisco Canal, adding the region's anthracite to the flow of commerce.
Pennsylvania Canal
Harrisburg, PA · est. 1953
In the 1820s and 30s, states raced to build canals that could move freight faster than any road. Pennsylvania answered with an ambitious state-owned system, constructed between 1826 and 1834, meant to link Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Lake Erie across the mountains. The first lock dedicated here in 1827 was christened "Penn Lock," later superseded by newer locks as the network matured.