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Thursday, June 4, 1992, pp. 1 and 7.


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Pictured are (right) retired Milanville farmer Oscar Ropke, who preserved the Skinners Falls bridge marker in a barn after unearthing it on his property near the bridge in the early 1970s, and (left) retired civil engineer Thomas VanOrden of Atco.
Marker to be remounted on Skinners Falls bridge
By TOM RUE
MILANVILLE - What appears to be the original cast-iron dedication marker for the interstate bridge at Skinners Falls may soon be remounted if a plan by members of the Upper Delaware Heritage Alliance (UDHA) comes to pass.

The marker reads:

1901 Built by American Bridge Company Milanville Bridge Co.
M.L Skinner	President
Chas. E. Beach	Secretary
L.J. Hocker	Treasurer
Directors
W.S. Brandt	Geo. Schoonover
J.M. Page	W.R. Tegeler




It remains a mystery to Ropke how the bridge marker got from where it was mounted high on a vertical cross-beam on the Pennsylvania end of the bridge, as an old postcard shows it, to its resting place, buried under several inches of earth, "about 600 to 800 feet downriver and at least 500 feet in a direct line from where the bridge is standing."

Ropke said he stumbled across the bracket protruding from the back of the marker while walking his property sometime between 1972 and 1975. "I tried pulling on it and pretty near pulled my arm off," he recalled. The marker was reportedly buried face down, near a portable brooder house across River Road from the property currently known as Innisfree, which was built by Ropke's late father-in-law. "I think it was right over here around these hemlocks," said Ropke.

VanOrden said longtime residents have told him that the bridge slipped off its base shortly after construction and had to be rebuilt, suggesting the marker might have been lost at that time.

Construction followed by flood damage

Construction of the bridge was overseen by the Milanville Bridge Company, whose directors are listed on the marker. The book Crossing the Delaware Via Toll Bridges (Narrowsburg: Delaware Valley Press, 1970, p. 15) also lists Isaac Lovelace as a director.

The same source reports: "The contract to build the bridge was let to the American Bridge Co. ... for $14,000. The structure was completed in November 1902. During the Spring of 1904, the flood and ice took the New York section out. It floated on the ice to near Skinners Falls. A contract was let to either the Oswego or Horseheads Bridge Company for $7000. They used the girders from the damaged section to make the repairs."

The bridge was reportedly reopened in the fall of 1904.

The span was purchased by the Interstate Bridge Commission on July 13, 1922, at a cost of $19,542.21. Since 1936 the bridge at Milanville has been maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).

Marker's loss unexplained

But none of this explains how the marker got from the bridge to the spot where Ropke dug it up. "I just can't imagine one person carrying a thing like that any distance," Ropke said. "You got to be a pretty darn rugged man." He estimates the iron sign measures about 48x31 inches and weighs about 200 pounds. He speculated that perhaps someone tried to steal it for scrap and then dropped it.

VanOrden said he plans to have the marker sandblasted, painted, and eventually mounted with a block and tackle into what appear to be its original bolt holes.

Milanville resident Clarence Poland said that, since being shown the marker by Ropke, his involvement in the project has included obtaining UDHA endorsement of the project and getting approval from PennDOT. He was assisted by UDHA member Sandra Speers.

Possible ceremony in fall

UDHA may hold a remounting ceremony in the fall, perhaps to include area schoolchildren and surviving descendants of the bridge company's officers and directors.

For information, call Poland at 717/729-xxxx or VanOrden at 717/729-xxxx.

This original cast-iron dedication marker for the interstate bridge at Skinners Falls will be put back.