David Shriver, Jr, Superintendent of the new National Road (America’s first federal project), begins erecting a stone arch bridge over the Little Crossing (later the Casselman River), 25 miles west of Cumberland in what becomes Garrett County. When it is open to wagons and coaches in 1815, the bridge, with an 80 foot arch and a 46 foot wide roadway, is the largest stone arched bridge in America.
Critics are waiting to see the daring and elegant single arch bridge collapse when it is open to stage coaches and to wagons with 10 ton loads pulled by 12 horse teams. Far from collapsing, the durable bridge carries heavy traffic until it is replaced by an iron bridge in 1933.
Since 1957 the restored Casselman River Bridge, still open to pedestrian traffic, has been a 4 acre state park. An artisan village and the popular Penn Alps Restaurant are nearby.
