Glessner Bridge



Glessner Covered Bridge

The Glessner Bridge spans Stoney Creek and is located on State Route 1007 in Stoneycreek Township, Somerset, PA.  It was originally built in 1861 by Tobias Glessner, who owned 271 acres of timberland near Shanksville and was a prosperous lumberman. After being damaged by flooding the bridge was replaced as a replica in 1998. It is open to vehicle traffic and sits adjacent to a B&O railroad spur. 

The construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railway, America's first rail system began in Baltimore in 1828 and reached Wheeling, VA (West Virginia did not exist yet) in 1852. Eleven tunnels and 113 bridges had to be constructed.  The railroads further expedited the transport of timber, coal, agricultural goods and produce, and increased the influx of people to western frontiers.

While we were at Stoney Creek, taking in the view and photographing the covered bridge, we saw an Amish family fishing in the creek.  Here is a modern-day example of a culture that has not allowed technological advances to disrupt a simpler way of living.

"[Jesus] said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men'"

(Matthew 4:19).