Frederick, MARYLAND - National Pike - Jug Bridge - 1907

Description

Frederick, MARYLAND - National Pike - Jug Bridge - 1907: In 1804, to assist the farmers in transporting their goods to market, a turnpike was begun from Baltimore to Frederick. A resident of Frederick County named Leonard HARBAUGH was considered one of the best stone masons around and was commissioned to build a 65 foot stone arch bridge across the Monocacy River, east of Frederick. Upon completion, he also built this large demijohn, more popularly called a jug. Because of this, even though the bridge was called the Monocacy Bridge, as time went by, it became known as Jug Bridge as did the area around it. A four arch stone bridge was built over the Monocacy River in 1808 at the cost of ,000. It was destroyed in 1942 after half of one of the arches collapsed - though at the time, it was probably repairable. It was replaced by a rather nice concrete arch bridge, which has since been replaced by a steel bridge, though most of the traffic passes over I-70 and avoids these bridges entirely. This Divided Back Era postcard, mailed in 1907, offers a distinct image, but there is edge wear and some soiling and a scrape to the card's upper right hand corner. Photographed and Wholesaled Exclusively by the Edison Studio. Frederick, Md. No. 21838.