Photo of the Month

February, 2003

Susquehanna River Ice Jam and Flood Destroyed the
Catawissa Bridge on March 9, 1904

There have been several Catawissa Bridges across the Susquehanna River.  The first one built by a stock company opened for business on January 15, 1833.  Being a business investment, those using it had to pay a toll.  On different occasions the bridge suffered structural damage from floods and ice accumulation; five spans were lost in 1846, and the entire bridge was swept away in 1875.  The company rebuilt the bridge in the same year.  Over time the public began to demand that the Catawissa Bridge become a "free" bridge, ending the practice of charging tolls for using it.  This finally occurred on November 11, 1893, when Columbia County Commissioners purchased the bridge from the stockholders.  Nearly three years later, September 1896, a violent wind storm blew the bridge off its piers into the river.  The replacement bridge in the photograph only lasted for eight years.  It was completely destroyed by the tremendous pressure from the ice pushing against it the on March 9, 1904