Dingmans Ferry Bridge Marks 125 Years: A Summer Landmark With a Story Few Know

By Y.M. Lowy

For many heading to the Poconos this summer whether to camp or to enjoy a few days away, the drive isn’t complete until they cross the familiar Dingmans Ferry Bridge.

It’s a landmark that many have crossed, especially those traveling to and from the Poconos each summer, including Bobover Chasidim heading to their Mesivta camp and Chabad families traveling to Chabad camp in the area. While thousands are once again crossing it this season, many may not realize the bridge recently reached a remarkable milestone, celebrating 125 years of service, an anniversary officially marked this past December.

Long before there was a bridge, travelers crossed the Delaware River by ferry. Beginning in the 1740s, the Dingman family operated a flatboat that carried people, horses, wagons, and supplies between what is now Pennsylvania and New Jersey. As the region grew, several bridges were built but floods, storms, and structural failures destroyed one after another, sending the community back to relying on the ferry.

Eventually, the bridge that still stands today replaced those earlier crossings and has remained in service ever since.

One of the most unique things about the Dingmans Ferry Bridge is that it is still privately owned, making it one of the few privately operated toll bridges left in the United States. Rather than relying on taxpayer funding, the bridge has been maintained for generations through tolls collected from those who cross it.

Although it has been strengthened and upgraded over the years—with reinforced supports, regular inspections, and a wooden deck that’s replaced every few years—much of the original structure remains in place.

This is the point where the Poconos trip really begins. And as another summer gets underway, the familiar wooden bridge over the Delaware River continues welcoming a new generation of visitors, just as it has for well over a century.

Photo Courtesy Images of Dingmans Ferry, George Sheldon / Shutterstock.com