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Eberly's Mill or Bitzer's Mill, Lancaster County

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Inventory Number: PA/38-36-04
County: Lancaster County
Township: West Earl
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Eberly's Mill or Bitzer's Mill
Crosses: Conestoga River
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 99' overall, 86'-6" span
Roadway Width: 13'-3"
Built: c1870
Builder: George Fink \ Samuel Reamsnyder
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N40 08.424
Longitude: W076 09.118
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 0.4 miles northwest of jct US222 on US322, then 1.4 miles left on Pleasant Valley Rd., then 0.2 miles right on Willis Pierce Rd. and 0.4 miles left on Cider Mill Rd. Southeast of Ephrata, 2 miles south of Murrell.

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Comments:
8-panel truss. Built at a cost of $1115. Clearance 12'-9". It is also known as Nathan Eberly's Cider Mill or John Bitzer's or Henry Martin's or Martin Frandt's or West Earl Flour Mill Bridge. It is located in West Earl Township on Cider Mill Road (SR1013). The bridge was washed away in 1850, but beached in a field intact. It was brought back to the original site. Per The Daily Express, October 4, 1869, a major storm resulted in flooding on Conestoga Creek, culminating in the loss of many bridges. "Among the other bridges destroyed, not enumerated above, were those at Earlville, Brownstown, Hinkletown, and Bitzer's Mill." It is assumed that the bridge at this location prior to the flood was a covered bridge. The rebuilt structure is currently the oldest covered bridge on the Pennsylvania State Highway System. Note: Sometime between June 4, 1999 and May 20, 2005, the bridge's characteristic diagonal flooring surface was removed, exposing an older floor that runs lengthwise. This has slightly increased the clearance. It has been strengthened by adding steel I-beams under the wooden floor.

Sources:
Evans, Benjamin D. & June R.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges, 2001, page 159
The Daily Express, October 4, 1869.
Collins, Kenneth W.. Covered Bridges of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 2002, pages 26-27, 66-67
Moll, Fred J.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges - Our Heritage, 2004, pages 108-109
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, September 2005
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 116

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