Zoarville Station Bridge
Restoration and reconstruction is now complete! Visit our Photo Library to view the latest images. And, be sure to visit The Makers of Hand-Forged Iron to learn about the restoration of the bridge components. Also, in 2008 the American Council of Engineering Companies recognized this project with an Outstanding Achievement Award.
The Zoarville Station Bridge at Camp Tuscazoar is the only Fink Through-Truss bridge known to exist in the United States. The builders of this example, Smith, Latrobe and Co. of Baltimore, MD specialized in this type. Originally part of the three-span bridge over the Tuscarawas River in Dover, this span was moved to its present site over One Leg Creek, now called Conotton Creek, when the bridge was replaced in 1905.
Acquired by the Camp Tuscazoar Foundation in 1996, this architectural treasure has become the newest camp landmark. The bridge has become a hiking destination and teaches our campers about some of the rich local history of the area surrounding our camp.
The historic Zoarville Station Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed by Albert Fink, the bridge was originally built in 1868 by Smith, Latrobe & Co. of Baltimore (later known as the Baltimore Bridge Co.) then was moved to its present location in 1905. The bridge spans the Conotton Creek as part of the old road which led from Zoar to Zoarville. It once was the way by road to Camp Tuscazoar, and is the last remaining bridge of its type.
Smith, Latrobe & Co. pamphlet >
Formerly owned by local resident Mr. Charles Lebold, who paid $50 for it in 1969, the bridge will now be saved from gradual deterioration. After acquiring the property under the bridge, the CTF purchased the bridge from Mr. Lebold for the grand sum of one dollar…a very generous deal. With its restoration now complete, the bridge carries the Zoar Valley Trail, the intrastate Ohio-to-Erie Trail and Buckeye Trail across Conotton Creek. The bridge also gives the youth using the camp access to the Ohio-Erie Canal Corridor and the towpath trail.
Support
This project received generous assistance from numerous groups
Ohio- Erie Canal Corridor Coalition >
Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) >
Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) >
The National Park Service: Cuyahoga Valley NP >
Stark-Tusc-Wayne Joint Solid Waste District >
Timeline Article
In 1985 the Ohio Historical Society recognized the significance of the Zoarville Station Bridge with a cover photo and story in its TIMELINE publication (Volume 2/ Number 1.)
Click on each image from the book to enlarge.
TIMELINE’s contemporary photographs are by W. G. Keener and C. S. Duckworth except where noted, and are used with permission.
We thank Ohio Historical Society for permission to reprint these pages here.
Inside the TIMELINE was a full page featuring more photos, text outlining the bridge’s history, and even a detail of the Phoenix columns – iron structural tubes of curved plates riveted to each other at flanges and fitted onto iron boxes at the joints or panel points – that make the design of this structure so significant.
More Information
Read Span Attention – A traveling covered-bridge show, and more by Frederic D. Schwarz from the Fall 2006 issue of Invention & Technology magazine.
Read Don’t Lower the River, Raise the Bridge by Frederic D. Schwarz from the Fall 1998 issue of Invention & Technology magazine.
Read Local history: Fink truss bridge once spanned Tuscarawas River at Dover, posted January 4, 2019 on TimesReporter.com.
Purchase Tom Winpenny’s book ‘Without Fitting, Filing, or Chipping: An Illustrated History of the Phoenix Bridge Company’.
View additional information and additional resources on the Phoenix Bridge Company.
More info on Phoenix Iron Works: Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area.
ODOT Historic Bridge Riveting Guidance, also features the ZSB.
The Zoarville Station Bridges is shown in the First Ohio Historic Bridge Inventory (see page 43)
For more information on the Phoenix Iron Works, visit the Library of Congress website.
(Click on the historical marker photo to enlarge)
Technical drawings of the Zoarville Station Bridge
ZSB Blueprint >
Elevation changes to the bridge and the area on either side.
Connection Details >
Exploded views of bridge element connecting points.
Northeast Elevation & Overhead Plan >
Elevation and the Overhead plans.
Photo Library
Phase I: Removal of Non-Period Steel – Completed Aug. 1998 >
Phase II: Grubbing and Clearing – Completed Aug. 2000 >
Phase III: Bridge Removal – Completed Sept. 2000 >
Phase IV: Construction of Approaches – Complete >
Phase V: Delivery of Bridge Components For Restoration – Complete >
Phase VI: Restoration of Bridge Components – Complete >
Phase VII: Restoration of Bridge Components and Construction of Approaches – Complete >
Phase VIII: Re-Assembly and Re-Opening >
Latest News
For the latest news about the Zoarville Station Bridge, visit our Update Page.
Email any questions or comments about the ZSB Restoration Project to info@tuscazoar.org.