View of the Veterans' Memorial Bridge and Columbia-Wrightsville Crossing

This section of the Susquehanna River has always been an important crossing between what are now York and Lancaster counties. The original inhabitants of this region, now known as the Susquehannock people, used huge dugout canoes to cross here. Then, European settlers and their descendants used ferries to cross in a similar way. Since 1814, however, bridges like the two before you have connected either side of the river here.

In 1814, the Columbia Bank and Bridge Company financed a wooden covered bridge that stretched 5,600 feet across the river, about 1/4 north of where the Route 462 bridge stands today. It operated until 1832, when a quick February thaw broke up ice and created a natural dam. Eventually, water and ice rose so high that it lifted the bridge off of its 52 stone piers and down the river.

Two years later, the Bank and Bridge Co. built another wooden covered bridge on stone piers. Mother nature was kinder to this bridge, and canal tow paths and railroad tracks were added to the bridge in the 1840s and 50s. However, in June of 1863, local Union troops and militia burned the bridge in order to stop Confederate soldiers from crossing the river into Lancaster County. Today, you can still see the old piers from this bridge, just north of the Veterans' Memorial Bridge.

Two more bridges, a wooden covered bridge and a steel truss bridge, were built near this spot throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. However, the art deco concrete arch bridge before you, the Veterans' Memorial Bridge, has lasted longer than any of it's predecessors. Construction began in 1930, meaning that the bridge's 100th anniversary is coming up soon. At the time that it was built, the bridge was one of the longest concrete arch bridges in the world.

As beautiful and historic as the bridge is, increasing traffic necessitated another bridge. In 1972 the Wright's Ferry Bridge was built. Today, about 55,000 vehicles cross the river on Route 30 using the bridge every day.

Byers, Hope. Columbia Crossing River Trails Center Bridge Exhibit, Accessed September 2nd 2021.