The Paunnacussing Creek span on Route 32 was restored to maintain the historical integrity of the area.
By: Carl Reader
SOLEBURY The refurbished state bridge over the Paunnacussing Creek was officially reopened last week, and the signs that had stood for many months alerting motorists to the closure of Route 32 were removed.
One old sign, however, remained.
In the shape of a headstone, the 175-year-old sign imbedded among the local red Bucks County stones in the bridge’s masonry reads: "1826 To P 34 M."
While motorists might have sworn and steamed when the temporary signs closing Route 32 halted their progress, the historic sign directing travelers the 34 miles to Philadelphia has more of a history and quite a bit more class and character. The sign literally had fallen by the wayside decades ago; its 175-year-old story had been hidden as it stood in its own silent solidity in a wall behind a nearby house. But at the bridge reopening Friday, the story and the stone itself resurfaced once again.
"There was an accident at this bridge prior to 1955," Township Supervisor Bill Tinsman said. "The stone wall, the abutment wall, got knocked into the creek. The date stone was in the creek and left there after the repairs were done. My father saved the stone and built it into a stone wall behind the house that my grandfather owned in the mid-1950s. We found a way to get permission to now have that historic date stone put back on the bridge in a more appropriate place."
Opposite the old date stone is a new one identifying the refurbished structure and its completion date. The restored span is expected to carry thousands of tourists into New Hope and Peddler’s Village, continuing a tradition of commerce started long before by landmarks like the old stone. The newly renovated bridge might have some catching up to do with the old stone, which undoubtedly saw many thousands pass its way in its long history.
The span now is 24 feet wide and 25 feet long and was made to fit into the historic nature of the towns and lands surrounding it. It’s made of native stone and has a graceful curving style and concrete capstones reminiscent of earlier works of architectural art. It replaced an old two-span, steel I-beam bridge under an emergency $760,000 contract.
No ribbons were cut at the festivities, despite its advertisement as a ribbon-cutting ceremony, but people showed up in force, and a few bottles of the bubbly were poured and enjoyed as most of the traffic immediately after the opening was on foot.
There were no formalities, but plenty of contributions by locals who expressed relief the bridge was open, healing the highway once again.
The house where the stone had spent nearly the last 50 years was healed, too.
"The stone masons very carefully removed the date stone from the wall and then made the property owners happy with putting the wall back intact," Mr. Tinsman said. "It just doesn’t have the date stone in it anymore. It’s rightfully on the bridge where it belongs."
The stone marker is part of the effort to keep the bridge in conformance with its surroundings, to recognize that while today might be the age of hand-held computers and steel structures butting up into the sky, Route 32 is still historic and scenic, a highway worthy of its past.
Both the stone and the bridge attempt to preserve that past while working for the needs of the present.
"The indigenous stone that PennDot allowed us to put on the bridge makes all the difference in the world," Mr. Tinsman said. "This is a bridge that is in keeping with the historic district of Lumberville, and that’s what we asked them to do. So we’re very pleased."