Hares Hill Road Bridge, Spanning French Creek, Kimberton, Chester County, PA

Significance: The Hares Hill Road Bridge, probably best described as an arched girder with latticed webbing is the only known surviving example of Thomas W. H. Moseley's "Wrought Iron Lattice Girder Bridge" and closely resembles his patent of August 30, 1870 (No. 106,855). Though modified substantially since its initial construction, it remains an excellent visual example of the proprietary vernacular designs that competed in the market for small highway bridges during the years immediately following the American Civil War. The Hares Hill Road Bridge, together with three others by Moseley, were the first iron bridges built in Chester County. Collectively, they represent that community's first experiment with this "new" bridge type as an alternative to timber and stone masonry for bridge construction. The Hares Hill Road Bridge was one of only two identified as a "bowstring arch-truss" in an inventory of state-owned highway bridges conducted in 1982-1985 by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. It is the only iron highway bridge surviving in Chester County that is still in public use.

Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N23

Survey number: HAER PA-208

Building/structure dates: 1869 Initial Construction

vehicular bridges kimberton hares bridge hares hill road bridge french french creek chester chester county pennsylvania road bridge historic american engineering record mosely iron bridge and roof company thomas w mosely abraham taney photo ultra high resolution high resolution historic american landscapes survey historic american buildings survey american civil war civil war library of congress

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

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