Reckord Mill or Harford Turnpike Covered Bridge

One of the many bridges that crossed the Little Gunpowder Falls connecting Harford and Baltimore counties was the Reckord Mill or Harford Turnpike Covered Bridge. The Maryland Session Laws of 1836, Act 199, passed on March 17, 1837, called for the building of the bridge:

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, that it shall and may be lawful for the commissioners of Baltimore and Harford counties, respectively, and they are hereby authorized and required to levy on the assessable property of each county, at their next annual levy, and caused to be collected the sum of four hundred dollars on each county for the purpose of erecting a bridge across the Little Falls of Gunpowder, at or near the ford where the Baltimore and Harford turnpike road crosses, leading to Bel-Air on said falls.......out of prime white oak or pine timber, weatherboarded in and covered with white pine or cedar shingles, the whole to be completed in a workmanlike manner

The property near the bridge, which included a mill, was bought by Henry Reckord in 1857. The mill initially made table and chair legs. It was soon expanded to include a sawmill. Reckord continued to grow his milling operation in the 1860s. A map of the Reckordville area in 1879 shows the covered bridge crossing the Little Gunpowder Falls on the Harford turnpike.¹ The map indicates the covered bridge was replaced by a wrought iron bridge.

¹ John McGrain, Grist Mills in Baltimore County, Maryland (Baltimore County Heritage Publication; 1980), p.439.

Reckord Mill in 1879. Covered Bridge indicated at lower right portion of map.