Dingmans Ferry Bridge
| Dingman's Ferry Bridge | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Coordinates | 41°13′12″N 74°51′33″W / 41.220070°N 74.859300°WCoordinates: 41°13′12″N 74°51′33″W / 41.220070°N 74.859300°W |
| Carries | 2 lanes of PA SR 2019 and NJ County Route 560 |
| Crosses | Delaware River |
| Locale | Delaware Township, Pike County, Pennsylvania |
| Official name | Dingman's Ferry Bridge |
| Other name(s) | Dingman's Bridge |
| Maintained by | Dingmans Choice and Delaware Bridge Company |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | truss bridge |
| Material | wrought iron |
| Total length | 530 feet (160 m) |
| Width | 18 feet (5.5 m) |
| Longest span | 170 feet (52 m) |
| Clearance above | 11 feet (3.4 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | November 1900 |
| Statistics | |
| Toll | $1.00, both directions |
The Dingman's Ferry Bridge is the last privately owned toll bridge on the Delaware River and one of the last few in the United States. It is owned and operated by the Dingmans Choice and Delaware Bridge Company.
In 1735, Andrew Dingman, a Dutch pioneer from Kinderhook, New York, operated a ferry that connected the Old Mine Road in Sussex County, New Jersey to the Bethany Turnpike (now State Route 2019) in Delaware Township in Pike County. The ferry thrived for over a century as pioneers utilized this important river crossing to move westward. Crossing on the ferry took some time; the ferryman on the western (Pennsylvania) bank had to be summoned by a bell on the eastern (New Jersey) shore. A house was built near the present-day bridge in 1803 by Judge Daniel W. Dingman, who was said to hold court in his bare feet. Still standing, the house is on the state and national historic registers.
In 1836, the first bridge was built by the Dingmans. Under the terms of its charter, churchgoers, schoolchildren, and funeral processions were given free passage, a condition that is still in effect today. The first bridge lasted until 1847 when high water washed away the Milford Bridge upstream and swept the debris into Dingman's Bridge.
After a brief life, the second bridge was destroyed four or five years after the first, in a severe windstorm.
A third bridge was constructed in 1856, but, being of poor quality, it fell apart by 1862. The ferry was operated once again by the Dingmans until the property was sold in 1875 to John W. Kilsby, Sr. Kilsby's family operated the ferry until the turn of the twentieth century when the current bridge was constructed using some materials recycled from a railroad bridge on the Susquehanna River. This bridge has survived major floods in 1903, 1955, 2005, and 2006.
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