Bridge Keeper's House

The Bridge Keeper's House sits a foot from the Douglassville Covered Bridge. It was built by a man named Michael Fulp; he built the small sandstone structure in a time where American settlers looked at log cabins as luxury. Michael Fulp served for the Union during the Revolutionary War from 1777-1779, after the war he came back to Douglassville and built the Bridge Keeper House. The Bridge Keeper's House stood a foot from the Douglassville bridge. In 1832, a covered bridge was built right across from the house, Fulp's house was then occupied by the bridge keeper. This is how the Bridge Keeper's House got its eternal name. Michael Fulp was well known throughout Douglassville as a hardworking man, and many people praised him for the building of his own sandstone house. It was a statement for the hard-working common man within the United States, and it surpassed the surrounding log cabin houses.

The Bridge Keeper's House was built in 1783 by Michael Fulp. Now for the time people were living in log cabins, this was a massive upgrade for Michael Fulp. Only in the past 10 years have we found the man responsible for building the Bridge Keeper's House. Fulp built the story and a half sandstone house on 3/4 acre of land just next to the Douglassville Covered Bridge. The house got its name when a covered bridge was built across the river from the house, and after Michael Fulp's death the bridge keeper occupied the house to maintain the bridge. The bridge keepers' duties were to collect tolls for the covered bridge, upkeep of the bridge, and shovel snow for pedestrians to be able to cross. This is how the Bridge Keeper house got its name. Michael Fulp was a combat veteran from the Revolutionary War, while he built the Bridge Keeper House most people were living in log cabins at the time. This showed our generation and the early settlers an example of hard work and self-sufficiency.

Michael Fulp was labeled has a handyman within the community, always seen hauling dung and mowing meadows. He was a hardworking man around his community and made his own way in life with a little bit of elbow grease. Michael Fulp died within the Bridge Keeper's House in 1808, George Douglass Jr paid for the doctor and the funeral expenses. George Douglass Jr was a close friend of Michael Fulp, George Douglass was a well-known man in the community and had the town of Douglassville named after him.

After decades of flooding in a marshy land in Douglassville the water had begun to erode the mortar of the foundation. The structure of the Bridge Keeper house started to fall apart that once housed the toll taker for the covered bridge. The Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County, who now owns the building, has invested over $75,000 into the restoration of the Bridge Keeper House. The organization obtained the rights to the house in the 1960s and have been restoring it ever since.

The Bridge Keeper House was not well maintained after the death of Michael Fulp and his family. Throughout the years the Bridge Keepers House started to decay from weather conditions and time, the house partially collapsed in 1967, and was worked on throughout the 70s. A few years ago, authorities from the town of Douglassville started to become concerned about the detrition of the stonework. After an evaluation by Richard Ortea of Malvern, the Bridge Keeper House went through the most intense restoration in the building's history. Joe Forrest became the head stones man of the restoration project with 60 years of experience and completed the restoration of the Bridge Keeper house in 2011.

The Bridge Keeper House still stands in Douglassville and has become a landmark for early settlers within the United States. It is a staple for generations to come regarding hard work, discipline, and self-preservation.

Speros , Susan . Bridge Keeper's House, circa 1783, Reading Eagle. March 11th 2020. Accessed March 26th 2022. https://www.readingeagle.com/2020/03/11/bridge-keepers-house-circa-1783/.

Devlin , Ron . 18th-century Bridge Keeper's House undergoing restoration , Reading Eagle. January 16th 2011. Accessed July 20th 2022. http://www2.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=279620.

Michael Fulp House , Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County. Accessed July 20th 2022. http://historicpreservationtrust.org/historic-properties/morlatton-village/michal-fulp-house/#wrap.