Point Pleasant - Byram (1855 - 1892)

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Today, only the piers of the old covered bridge at Point Pleasant between New Jersey and Pennsylvania remain visible in the Delaware River.

The spot had been used to cross the river as early as 1739, when ferry service was established at the location of a popular shad fishing location. In 1855, the Point Pleasant Delaware Bridge Company built its 895-foot-long covered bridge across the river at a cost of $16,350. The bridge needed to be rebuilt partially after the 1862 floods.

On March 29, 1892, a fire broke out on the New Jersey side of the Point Pleasant Bridge at a railroad depot. Sparks from the fire soon spread to the covered bridge, which became engulfed in flames.

The company replaced the wooden bridge with a steel structure in 1893. However, that bridge was lost in the great 1903 flood. A replacement steel bridge remained in place until Hurricane Diane in 1955, when floods swept away the structure. That bridge was never replaced, leaving its piers behind in the river as the only visible evidence of its existence.