Camelback and Market Street Bridges

The river crossing at this spot is Harrisburg's oldest and most historic bridge crossing. The first bridge here was the Camelback Bridge, known for its irregular, rolling covered-bridge profile and as the first bridge ever to cross the Susquehanna River, which flows through three states. Authorized in 1809 and completed in 1816, it became financially successful as a link to the farmers of Cumberland County to the west and helped establish Harrisburg's early importance as a major transportation center. During the Civil War, it served as an escape route for residents of the Cumberland Valley fleeing southern troops advancing toward Harrisburg. That invasion never occurred, as fighting turned to Gettysburg, although skirmishes between Union and Confederate troops on Harrisburg's West Shore three miles from here showed the reality of the threat. After flooding destroyed the Camelback Bridge in 1902, it was replaced by the two-lane forerunner of the present-day Market Street Bridge. At its Harrisburg entrance stood two main portico columns salvaged from the Old Capitol Building, which had burned in 1897, and the bridge reflected the advent of the City Beautiful Movement. In 1926, the bridge was widened to four lanes and designed with graceful stone arches as a grand gateway to Pennsylvania's Capital City.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania · United States