Historic Casselman River Bridge in Grantsville Still Closed While Crews Race to Save It
The 1813 stone arch bridge at Casselman River Bridge State Park stays closed for restoration, and a new DNR release ties it to the Underground Railroad.
If you have been planning a ride or a walk down to Casselman River Bridge State Park in Grantsville, hold off. The historic stone arch bridge there is still closed to the public while Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of Transportation work to keep it standing for another two centuries.
The bridge went up in 1813 and 1814, and for a while it held the title of the largest single span stone arch bridge in the country. It has carried travelers across the Casselman for well over 200 years, which is exactly why it needs the kind of careful, unhurried repair work that closes it down for a stretch. Crews are repointing stonework, injecting epoxy into cracks in the barrel, repairing the abutments and spandrels, and rebuilding a major portion of the roadway decking. None of that happens fast, and none of it happens with visitors walking across the top.
There is a second layer to this story that is worth knowing before the bridge reopens. In early August, Maryland DNR put out a release recognizing the bridge’s role in the Underground Railroad, part of a broader look at how the Casselman River corridor fits into that history. It is easy to drive past a stone bridge and just see a stone bridge. This one carried more than wagons.
For folks along our stretch of the GAP, from Confluence down through Rockwood and across into Grantsville, the Casselman is one of the threads that ties these towns together. Worth a stop once the scaffolding comes down and the bridge opens back up, this time with a little more appreciation for what is actually holding it together.