BRIDGES
In addition to being a literal “crossroads of history and transportation routes,” Frederick County is home to a variety of historic water crossroads and crossings, many of which can be found on the National Register of Historic Places. The traveler will find bridges of various size and architectural design, constructed of wood, stone, iron and steel.
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Covered Bridges
The Roddy Road, Loys Station, and Utica Mills bridges are three of only eight remaining covered bridges in the state of Maryland. At least 52 such structures once graced the landscape of the state, but storms, fires, progress, and neglect have claimed almost all of them. The three bridges provide a good comparative study of wood bridge truss techniques, as each displays a different truss design. Weather permitting, be sure to bring a picnic as each of the three bridge sites features an adjacent recreation area.
Roddy Road Covered Bridge is located just north of Thurmont, the Roddy Road Covered Bridge was built in 1856. The single-span bridge over Owens Creek can be found just east of US 15 where Roddy Creek Road intersects with Roddy Road. The smallest of the county’s covered bridges, this structure features a King Post design and measures 45 feet in length.
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Loy’s Station Covered Bridge is an original Howe truss bridge built around 1848 and is located on Old Frederick Road, south of Rt. 77, east of Thurmont. The Loy’s Station Bridge is a picturesque, barn-red, one-lane covered bridge that also spans Owens Creek. The bridge’s design utilizes multiple king post trusses covered with beveled clapboard, and was rebuilt after an arsonist’s fire nearly destroyed it in 1991. The bridge is 90 feet in length and 12.2 feet high.
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The original Utica Mills Covered Bridge was built around 1850 and is located on Utica Road off of Old Frederick Road over Fishing Creek. The bridge originally spanned the nearby Monocacy River but was washed away during a severe storm in 1889. Local citizens gathered the remains and reconstructed the 101-foot long Burr arch truss bridge at its present location crossing Fishing Creek.
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View the Historic Covered Bridges Driving Tour |
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Gateway Crossings
Built in 1808, a very unique stone arch bridge once carried covered wagons, passenger carriages, Civil War troops, horse and buggy and automobiles over the Monocacy River just east of Frederick (RT 144). To travelers coming from the east on the famed National Pike, the bridge, named Jug Bridge represented a gateway to Frederick, welcoming tourist and teamster alike. One such visitor was the Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette, who was met at Jug Bridge in 1823 by a distinguished local welcoming committee. The name Jug Bridge was derived from a jug-shaped stone demijohn, formerly located on the structure’s eastern approach. The bridge consisted of two 65-foot spans that were carried over five arches. After 130 years of heavy use, Jug Bridge suddenly collapsed into the river below on March 3, 1942. Although the original abutments still exist, a new modern bridge was built as a replacement. In 1965, the iconic "jug" and a stone monument to Lafayette were moved a few miles west of their original location. Nearly 200 years after the building of the famed Jug Bridge, a “gateway of bridges” welcomes traveler and tourist alike to the heart of Downtown Frederick, within the newly constructed Carroll Creek Park area.
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Other major gateway bridges, to and from Frederick County, are located along the Monocacy River and Carroll County to the northeast. From Virginia, three major spans over the Potomac River occur at Point of Rocks (US15), Brunswick (MD17) and Sandy Hook (US340) on the south and southwest border of Frederick County. |
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Business Bridges
Southeast of Point of Rocks (MD 28) at the confluence of the Monocacy and Potomac Rivers is the aptly named Monocacy Aqueduct, the largest of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal’s 11 aqueducts. Described by historians as one of the finest canal structures in the nation, the Monocacy Aqueduct is constructed primarily of large granite blocks that came from nearby Sugarloaf Mountain. Visitors can walk across the dry aqueduct channel, which once ferried canal boats across the river for nearly a century.
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To the west on (MD 464) you’ll find Lander, located within the heart of the C & O National Park. Here is the site of the Catoctin Aqueduct, the second such structure of its kind located along Frederick County’s portion of the famed 184-mile long canal.
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West of Woodsboro, construction began on the LeGore Bridge in 1898 by local businessman James William LeGore. Legore utilized limestone and workmen from his own business endeavor, the LeGore Quarry, to build the five-arched, 340 foot-long structure. Spanning the Monocacy River, some sixty feet above, this passage was originally built to aid the transport of LeGore’s quarried products. |
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Iron and Steel
The bridge industry in America flourished in the late 1800’s, producing a host of companies involved in the trade. To facilitate transportation growth, and combat the strength of the occasional floodwaters, the Frederick County Commissioners were eager to hire the services of bridge building firms in Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania to replace existing wooden bridges in favor of iron and steel truss bridges. Many of these still remain today and are found scattered throughout the county. A prime example of this group is the Four Points Bridge, located southeast of Emmitsburg, which takes the Four Points-Keysville Road over Tom’s Creek. This crossing was built in 1876 and is a steel pin connected truss bridge. The 103-foot-long bridge is one of many in the state designed and built by the prolific Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, one of the largest manufacturers of iron truss bridges in the nineteenth century. In its heyday, the company employed 270 men and had projects in twenty-five states. Four Points Bridge’s ornate nameplates and decorative portals are reminiscent of those of the Poffenberger Road Bridge, crossing Catoctin Creek west of Jefferson, which may have been built by the same company.
Research other historic bridges of Frederick County |
Byways
Frederick County is home to several state and federally designated scenic roadways, referred to more commonly as “byways”. Not only do these routes assist travelers in getting from point A to point B, they also represent tourist destinations unto themselves. Five out of the state of Maryland’s nineteen designated byways traverse Frederick County and are marked with the Black-eyed Susan scenic byway signs. |
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Maryland Civil War Trails
Thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers marched over the county’s sometimes muddy, often dusty roads. The beauty and grandeur of Frederick County was the last thing written home about, by many a soldier who would not make it through the major conflicts that identify the American Civil War. Individual trails focusing on the 1862 Antietam Campaign and Gettysburg Invasion and Retreat of 1863 shed light on what many of these troops experienced, most far from the comforts of home. |
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Catoctin Mountain Loop
This route explores Maryland’s natural riches and its industrial heritage within the forests and towns surrounding Catoctin Mountain of the famed Blue Ridge chain. Many of the old mountain paths and roads trace a variety of entrepreneurial endeavors, including sawmills, tanneries, the nation’s first match factory, and the making of moonshine. |
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C & O Canal Route
Those who planned and designed the C & O (Chesapeake and Ohio) Canal saw it stretching from the Potomac River near Washington D.C., to the Ohio Valley. Work commenced on July 4th, 1828, but the challenges and costs experienced were far greater than estimated. By 1850, the canal was complete from the mouth of Rock Creek in Georgetown to Cumberland in western Maryland. The canal never made it further west, with the Ohio River as its goal. Despite its problems, the canal was a busy waterway for the transport of coal and produce until it closed in 1924. Frederick County’s portion of the canal includes two of the 11 aqueducts built along the route, a lockhouse at Lander, plus the C&O Canal Visitor Center located in Brunswick. |
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Old Main Streets
On this tour, you will explore the quaint towns and villages of Carroll and Frederick counties. Paying particular attention to the old Main Streets that were the hub of activity for each town and the surrounding countryside. These Main Streets are still busy places offering the atmosphere of bygone days along with an enticing variety of antique shops, country inns, and restaurants. The route takes you through the northern Frederick County towns of Emmitsburg, Thurmont and Libertytown to name a few.
Maryland Scenic Byways Map is available at Frederick Visitor Center locations. Driving tour itinerary can be found online at these sites:
www.sha.state.md.us/exploremd/oed/scenicByways/scenicByways.asp
The County and City of Frederick have the unique distinction of sitting at the crossroads of two nationally designated scenic roadways -the Historical National Road (US 40) and the Catoctin Mountain National Scenic Byway (US15). The designations come from the National Scenic Byways Program, under the direction of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. Recipients are recognized based on possessing one or more archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational or scenic qualities. |
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Historic National Road:
The Road that Built the Nation
As the first federally funded road, the Historic National Road provided a gateway to the west for thousands of settlers and travelers alike. Beginning in Baltimore, the National Turn-Pike reached Frederick and the Appalachians Mountains, further extending through West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and ending in Vandalia, Illinois. Since its inception in 1807, the National Road began as the Baltimore & Frederick Town Turnpike. The new “smooth” road was responsible for opening Frederick to trade both east and west, quickly turning a small town into a city. Neighboring villages such as New Market, Mount Airy and Middletown grew up along the famed roadway in like fashion -offering lodging, dining, support services (eg.-blacksmiths/wheelrights) and depot facilities for trade goods. Many of the old turnpike’s original mile markers still exist and can be found on the north side of the roadway. In addition, several interpretive markers help tell the local story along the Historic National Road’s route. The Maryland portion of the Historic National Road measures 170 miles, crossing through seven counties.
http://www.byways.org/browse/byways/2273/
Catoctin Mountain National Scenic Byway:
Journey through Hallowed Ground
The Catoctin Mountain National Scenic Byway is Maryland’s portion of a 4-state heritage corridor known as the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, stretching from Gettysburg, PA to Monticello in Virginia. Traveling 38 miles across Frederick County from south to north, the Byway begins at the Potomac River and Virginia line, adjacent Point of Rocks, and winds along the picturesque Catoctin Mountain Chain up to the Mason-Dixon Line (Pennsylvania border). Along its route, the Catoctin Mountain National Scenic Byway is dotted with local and nationally recognized attractions, natural areas and parklands, important historic and cultural sites, and vibrant economic Main Streets. Catoctin Mountain and the historic agricultural landscape of Frederick County provide a setting that is charming and beautiful to both residents and travelers alike.
Click here for Catoctin Mountain National Scenic Byway’s “15 on 15” Touring Itinerary
Explore the Journey's scenic and historically rich landscape recognized as the region which holds more American history than any other swath of land in the country. It is home to significant and unique historical, cultural, scenic and natural legacies. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground corridor follows US Route 15 and Route 20 on a 175-mile meandering course from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, through Frederick County, Maryland and ending in Charlottesville, Virginia.
http://www.hallowedground.org |
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