Mood's

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Mood’s Covered Bridge is in its first full reincarnation after the original bridge was an arson victim in 2004. The new version, which uses some beams from the old bridge, opened in 2008.

Bucks County built the first bridge in 1874 after it received a petition from local residents for a bridge over the East Branch of the Perkiomen Creek. It was called the Mood’s Ford bridge, near Samuel Mood’s farm.

Mood’s obituary in 1902 said he was born in Tinicum Township but left to seek his fortune in the 1849 Gold Rush in California. Mood also worked on the Union Pacific Railroad before he returned to Bucks County to become a farmer and one of Perkasie’s wealthiest citizens. Mood was known for his colorful tales of life during the Gold Rush era.

Although the state took over Mood’s Bridge in 1936, it wasn’t heavily used and was spared from demolition. But as the Perkasie area grew after World War II, the bridge was in disrepair by the late 1950s as it handled more daily traffic. Many of the siding boards were missing and the bridge leaned to one side.

In March 1960, the Bucks County Township Officials Association and the Bucks County Boroughs Association pressed the state to repair Mood’s Bridge and Sheard's Mill Bridge. Soon after, repair work began on both bridges, with Mood’s Bridge getting a nearly complete overhaul between 1963 and 1965.

The bridge continued to have condition problems and it was closed for the first part of the 1970s as the state sought $140,000 to repair it. It reopened in 1974 but was closed again after it sustained considerable truck damage in 1978. Mood’s Bridge underwent more major repairs in 1984 and 1995.

In January 2004, a refuse truck one foot higher than the bridge’s clearance took out most of its overhead trusses. And in June 2004, six men set fire to the closed bridge in the middle of the night. The men later plead guilty and agreed to pay restitution for about half of the costs of the new bridge.

Local residents worked with government officials to fund and construct a $700,000 replacement bridge, which was put back in road service in February 2008. After some debate, the state agreed to fund most of the construction if the county took over the bridge after it reopened.