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The Dingman's Ferry Bridge is the last privately-owned toll bridge on the Delaware River and one of the last few in the United States. It is owned and operated by the Dingmans Choice and Delaware Bridge Company. Paying toll on passing a bridge. ...
Delaware River Watershed The Delaware River is a river on the Atlantic coast of the United States. ...
Origins - Dingman's Ferry
In 1735, Andrew Dingman, a Dutch pioneer from Kinderhook, New York, operated a ferry that connected the Old Mine Road in Sussex County, New Jersey to the Bethany Turnpike (now PA Route 739) in Dingman Township, Pennsylvania in Pike County. The ferry thrived for over a century as pioneers utilized this important river crossing to move westward. Crossing on the ferry took some time; the ferryman on the western (Pennsylvania) bank had to be summoned by a bell on the eastern (New Jersey) shore. Events April 16 - The London premiere of Alcina by George Frideric Handel, his first the first Italian opera for the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. ...
Kinderhook is the name of a town and a village in Columbia County, New York. ...
The Pride of Burgundy, a P&O Ferries car ferry on the Dover-Calais route A ferry is a boat or a ship carrying passengers, and sometimes their vehicles, on scheduled services. ...
Old Mine Road is the oldest continuously-used road in the United States. ...
Sussex County is a county located in the state of New Jersey. ...
Dingman Township is a township located in Pike County, Pennsylvania. ...
Pike County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. ...
A family of Russian settlers in the Caucasus region, ca. ...
A house was built near the present-day bridge in 1803 by Judge Daniel W. Dingman, who was said to hold court in his bare feet. Still standing, the house is on the State and National historic registers. 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ...
History
The First Bridge In 1836, the first bridge was built by the Dingmans. Under the terms of its charter, churchgoers, schoolchildren, and funeral processions were given free passage, a condition that is still in effect today. Charles Darwin 1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...
The first bridge lasted until 1847 when high water washed away the Milford Bridge upstream and swept the debris into Dingman's Bridge. The Milford-Montague Toll Bridge is a truss bridge with a lift span crossing the Delaware River from Montague, New Jersey to Milford, Pennsylvania in the United States. ...
The Second, Third and Fourth Bridges After a brief life, the second bridge was destroyed four or five years after the first, in a severe windstorm.
A third bridge was constructed in 1856, but, being of poor quality, it fell apart by 1862. The ferry was operated once again by the Dingmans until the property was sold in 1875 to John W. Kilsby, Sr. Kilsby's family operated the ferry until the turn of the twentieth century when the current bridge was constructed using some materials recycled from a railroad bridge on the Susquehanna River. This bridge has survived major floods in 1903, 1955 and 2005. The Susquehanna River is a river in the northeastern United States. ...
Later years Dingman named his original plot of land Dingman's Choice. The village of Dingman's Choice, which became quite identified with the ferry, had its name changed by the Post Office to Dingman's Ferry in 1868. Dingmans Ferry is an unincorporated town, in Dingman Township, Pike County, Pennsylvania on the Delaware River in the in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. ...
1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...
Records from an early log book show tolls of 40 cents for a horseless carriage, 25 cents for a two-horse wagon, 10 cents for a horse and rider, 5 cents for a bicycle, and 2 cents for a footman. The automotive Brass Era is the first period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. ...
The Present Today, the bridge provides an important link for commuters to reach destinations in New Jersey and New York City. The bridge lies south of the current Milford Bridge, and well north of the Interstate 80 bridge at the Delaware Water Gap. As such, it is in a location which caters well to the commuter lifestyle of many area residents of Delaware Township, Dingman Township, and others. Route across the United States Interstate 80 (abbreviated I-80) is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States. ...
The Delaware Water Gap is a geologic formation on the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where the Delaware River traverses a large ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. ...
Delaware Township is a township located in Pike County, Pennsylvania. ...
Today's tolls are not much higher than previously noted. Automobiles pay 75 cents. Books of forty coupons can be purchased from the toll collector for $20.00. This effectively lowes the toll to 50 cents if the entire book of coupons is used. (Even though they are paper and not coin, these coupons are known locally as "bridge tickets".) Bicyclists may cross for free, but pedestrians are not allowed due to the narrow lanes. An 11 foot height restriction coupled with a weight restriction of three tons precludes large RVs and trucks from crossing. Although the bridge is within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, government employees pay the toll, unless responding to an emergency with lights and sirens on. A breakdown of all current tolls can be found on the bridge's website. A foot (plural: feet) is a non-SI unit of distance or length, measuring around a third of a meter. ...
The word ton or tonne is derived from the Old English tunne, and ultimately from the Old French tonne, and referred originally to a large cask with a capacity of 252 wine gallons, which holds approximately 2100 pounds of water. ...
In North America the term recreational vehicle and its derived acronym, RV, are generally used to refer to an enclosed piece of equipment dually used as both a vehicle and temporary travel home. ...
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, administered by the National Park Service, preserves almost 70,000 acres (283 km²) of land along the Delaware Rivers New Jersey and Pennsylvania shores. ...
Christmas Day is the only day of the year which finds the toll booth unmanned; everyone may cross for free.
Dingman's Bridge is also unique in that there is a single toll collector who stands in between the single lanes of traffic, collecting toll fees by hand.
Maintenance Because the Bridge Company is responsible for its own repairs, it employs an engineering firm certified for bridge inspection to regularly and thoroughly inspect the bridge from the tops of the trusses to the underwater foundations. Each year, the bridge company closes the bridge for a few weeks to conduct any repairs needed to maintain the structural integrity of the bridge and to replace or flip the salt-treated Canadian fir planks. These floor boards are held in place with anchor plates and collar nails which results in a characteristic rattling of the deck with the traffic moving. In medicine, a truss is a kind of surgical appliance, particularly one used for hernia patients. ...
Text is adapted from the NPS website below
External links - Spanning the Gap The newsletter of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Vol. 15 No. 2 Summer 1993
- Official Site of the Dingmans Choice and Delaware Bridge Company: History and Photos
Sources - Henn, William F., The Story of the River Road
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