Foster's Covered Bridge

Cecil County had an abundance of little covered bridges. One of them was Foster's, or Old Foster's bridge in the northwest section of the county.

Foster's bridge was located just below the Maryland-Pennsylvania state line over Little Elk Creek on the road from Lewisville, Pennsylvania to Fairview, Maryland. The Cecil County Road Commissioners Minutes of August 8, 1868 reported receiving a proposal to build a 45 foot, Queenpost covered canal bridge over Little Elk Creek at Pass Fording by Robert McCleary for $1620.

John Poteet, a Maryland covered bridge enthusiast measured the bridge in the early 1940s and reported it to be 48 feet. Foster's Covered Bridge is believed to have been lost around 1950.

In 1948, N.D. Rand of Wilmington, Delaware, wrote about Foster's Covered Bridge in Covered Bridge Topics: "Whenever a wind blew a board off the side, a new one is nailed on, which presents an appearance much like crazy quilt, with its siding in various stages of weathering. What a story it would tell if each board were dated when nailed on! Of course, shingles on the roof are not replaced, as they would bar sunlight."¹

Foster's Covered Bridge 1938. Photo from Poteet Family collection.	Foster's Covered Bridge, 1938. Photo from Poteet Family collection.

¹Covered Bridge Topics (Anderson, Indiana: Volume 6, Number 4: 1948), p. 1.

UPDATED: 2/6/2010, for information from Cecil County Roads Commissioners Minutes of 1868 confirming length, cost and build date.