On May 15, 2023, the Hellertown Historical Society announced that the Walnut Street of "Pony" Bridge formerly Saucon Creek has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The bridge was added on May 8, 2023. It currently crosses a small mill race for the Saucon Creek. This is the Historical Society's announcement:
"The Circa 1860 Walnut Street Pony Bridge restoration was completed by the Society in 2000. This bridge formerly spanned Saucon Creek and was traveled by horses, buggies, pedestrians, tractors, and finally cars. Originally designed and patented by Francis J. Lowthorp in 1856, it was fabricated by the Beckel Foundry and Machine Shop of Bethlehem, PA. It was moved aside in the 1970’s to allow for a new structure safe for school buses.
In 1994, with help from Lehigh University graduate students, HHS dismantled and reassemble it over the mill race. It survives as an example of a cast iron high truss bridge and is the only one of its kind believed to still exist in America."
The Walnut Street Pony Bridge was designed and patented by Francis J. Lowthorp in 1857 and fabricated by the Beckel Foundry and Machine Shop of Bethlehem, on what is now called Sand Island.
A cast iron and wrought iron bridge, the structure formerly spanned the Saucon Creek along a dirt road that became West Walnut Street in Hellertown.
The bridge was moved by Northampton County when the Hellertown and Lower Saucon school districts merged in 1970 to form Saucon Valley School District to make way for a paved cement bridge that was deemed safe for school bus use.
The bridge was lifted in one piece by crane and deposited in a field next to the Heller-Wagner Grist Mill site.
In 1994, Lehigh University graduate engineering students helped historical society volunteers dismantle the bridge and reassemble it over a mill race next to the grist mill.
The Pony Bridge was rededicated at a formal ceremony during Hellertown’s Community Day on June 24, 2000.
It was open to foot traffic until late 2010, when the visitation was closed off due to weather-related deterioration of the bridge’s red oak floor and supporting beams.
Repairs were made in 2012, replacing the rotted beams and flooring and replacing it with longer-lasting white oak, and the bridge was reopened on Nov. 18, 2012.
According to the website HistoricBridge.org the Pony Bridge is one of a handful of surviving bridges with cast iron compression members and is notable for having cast iron floor beams.
The structure is also one of the oldest all-metal bridges in the country.
More information on the bridge can be found at:
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visit link)
The National Registry Number is #100008901. It is so new, that it is not on their website.