Perkasie took two important steps this week toward preserving its heritage, with the unofficial announcement of the Covered Bridge project and the Council’s Historical Committee statement of making historic preservation a priority in Perkasie Borough.
Posts By Scott Bomboy
When was the South Perkasie covered bridge really built?
For the past year, I have been researching the 51 covered bridges that once existed in Bucks County, and one question I’ve been asked is how do we really know that Perkasie’s bridge was built in 1832?
The meaning of Christmas in Perkasie 100 Years Ago
Today, we celebrate the holiday season in different ways, but maybe we can learn something from a difficult Christmas 100 years ago when war and an epidemic were unwanted guests in Perkasie.
How Perkasie celebrated Thanksgiving in the 1880s
Thanks to our Historical Society’s project to digitize the Perkasie News-Herald’s archives, we can now look back to 1881 and see how Perkasie Borough celebrated Thanksgiving Day during that decade.
After 111 years, a new Walnut Street Bridge for Perkasie
On Wednesday, November 21, 2018, Perkasie will witness an event that only happens every century or so – the opening of a new bridge on Walnut Street over the Perkiomen’s East Branch.
Modern Covered Bridge Preservation Efforts in Bucks County (Part 4)
Before 1958, there were few efforts to save Bucks County’s covered bridges. But after the South Perkasie covered bridge’s rescue in August 1958 by the town’s citizens, state and county officials adopted policies to preserve local covered bridges when feasible.
How Bucks County lost and then saved its covered bridges (Part 3)
Today, Bucks County is fortunate to have 12 covered bridges for its citizens to enjoy, thanks to preservation efforts in 1958 and 1959 related to the highly publicized effort to save South Perkasie’s Covered Bridge.
The Delaware River Covered Bridge Network (Part 2)
The first wooden covered bridges built in Bucks County bore little resemblance to the dozen that survives today. At one time, 11 great bridges spanned the Delaware River from Riegelsville to Trenton.
Discovering Bucks County’s Covered Bridges (Part 1)
Bucks County is well-known for its history and an important part of that story is its collection of wooden covered bridges. Currently, 12 of the structures remain in the county, with 10 of the original bridges listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The story of Perkasie area’s other Covered Bridge
As part of my project with the Bucks County Historical Society to inventory and map the county’s current and former Covered Bridges, I’m doing brief bios of each of the 57 bridges that existed here. Here’s a quick look at the little-known Steeley’s Bridge, which sat just outside of Perkasie.
One of its few photos. Courtesy of Trish Kane at Lostbridges.org.
Today, Bucks County has 12 Covered Bridges, which is a lot for one county. Two of them are full reproductions; a third is the South Perkasie Covered Bridge sitting on land in Lenape Park.
1929 Anniversary Book
This free high-definition scan of the 1929 Perkasie 50th Anniversary book is text searchable. Click here to download.
National Register of Historic Places
Listed
Delbar Products
South Perkasie Covered Bridge
Lehigh Valley Transit Station
Perkasie Park Camp-Meeting Grounds
Eligible
Perkasie Borough Central District
Bridgetown-South Perkasie District
Lake Lenape Park
North Pennsylvania Railroad
Perkasie Silk Company
Preservation Research
This is my final Historic Preservation project in 2017 for Bucks County Community College. Click here to get the PDF.