Wilson Bridge, a graceful five-arch structure spanning historic Conococheague Creek, is the oldest stone bridge in Washington County. Although the Army Corps of Engineers required only stone piers with a wooden superstructure, local government insisted that the bridge be built entirely of native limestone. Completed in 1819 at a cost of $12,000, it was the first of thirty stone bridges constructed in Washington County before the end of the Civil War. The 210-foot bridge, with walls two feet thick above the roadbed, carried National Road traffic for nearly 120 years until the realignment of U.S. Route 40 in 1937. In the 1920s, Washington County Surveyor Elmer E. Piper praised its durability after many hard knocks. Tropical Storm Agnes later produced one of the worst floods in the Great Valley of Maryland, completely submerging the bridge and leaving gaping holes in its stone superstructure. Demolition was recommended, but county residents protested, and a coalition of local historical societies, county government, and the Maryland Historical Trust secured funding to restore it. LeRoy Myers, Sr., a Clear Spring contractor and stone mason, carried out the restoration. During the first half of the 20th century, Row’s Amusement Park also drew thousands to Wilson’s Bridge with rides, bath houses, an open-air theatre, a dance/ball room, and a popular sliding board.
