Camelback Bridge Entrance

A man and a woman stand in the two-sided western entrance to the Camelback Bridge with their hats in hand. Three people sit just inside the bridge to the left. Opened in 1820, the Camelback was the first bridge to cross the Susquehanna and the only one until the Walnut Street Bridge opened in 1890. The small windows provided the only interior light. The faint sign above the entrance reads, "One dollar penalty for passing this bridge faster than on a walk, by any person or persons riding or driving any horse or carriage." On several occasions, portions of the toll bridge were destroyed by flood or fire and were rebuilt. When the center of the bridge was taken out in the flood of 1902, it was demolished soon thereafter. The two-lane Market Street bridge was built in its place in 1905 and expanded to its current four lanes in 1926. Photo ID: L00591.