Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives


Source: July 1983 Volume 21 Number 3, Pages 103–104


The Bartram Bridge

Anna Bartram

Page 103

The Bartram Bridge was built to be as high and wide as a load of hay. It is an inter-county structure, spanning Crum Creek at Goshen and Boot roads, north of Route 3 at Newtown Square.

The Bartram home was west of the creek, with no road going to the entrance of the mill on the east.

This bridge had many reasons for being built, chief among them:

1) The love of Grandfather Bartram and his family for their friends and neighbors, who often suffered cold and hunger while they waited for the water of this often-flooded Crum Creek to be safe enough for them to drive through. Sometimes the wait was as long as two days or more. Neighbors on the Chester County side were always generous in supplying food and warm clothes to stranded travellers while they waited.

2) In addition to flood waters, a noted robber, Sandy Flash, took money and valuables from the people who waited to cross the creek.

3) Tall trees stood in Israel and Mary Ann Bartram's woods. A sawmill on the farm could make strong beams and boards for a bridge. The county would pay for the work of the carpenters.

Page 104

The covered bridge would connect Chester and Delaware counties. It was built in 1860 on the Bartram land. This land belonged in 1682 to Peter Thomas, and Grandmother Bartram was a descendant of his. On the east side of the bridge stood the grist mill; a saw mill was attached. On the west side was a log bank house, built in 1682. On the same side the outline of another house, built in 1723, shows in an old picture. And almost hidden by the trees at the far end stood another house, built in 1854.

The Bartram Bridge still stands today. It is no longer used, butit is a keepsake of the area's history and a tribute to the Bartram family's thoughtfulness.

Anna Bartram in her 102nd year

Bartram's Bridge

 
 

Page last updated: 2009-10-26 at 16:30 EST
Copyright © 2006-2009 Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Permission is given to make copies for personal use only.
All other uses require written permission of the Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society.