Photographs of the Bridges
Historic Truss Bridges, Baltimore and Harford Counties, Maryland
There are ten interesting historic through-truss bridges situated north of Baltimore, Maryland, in Baltimore and Harford counties. Most of these were constructed in the 1880s and 1890s, and six of them were constructed by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio. Except for the Paper Mill Road Bridge, all of the bridges still carry traffic. Even though they are only one lane wide, the bridges are almost entirely situated in the woods in and near Gunpowder Falls State Park, so the narrow width does not interfere with traffic flow. The bridges display a range of decoration, from the Bottom Road Bridge having no decorations applied to it, to several of the bridges having ornate constructor’s plaques over the portal, to the Paper Mill Road and Vinegar Hill bridges having decorations incorporated into their structural components. Several of these bridges got at least a mention in my Bridgespotting books, and I have discussed one of them, the Nobles Mill Bridge, in detail in Bridgespotting Part 2: A Guide to Even More Bridges that Connect People, Places, and Times.
