Soon, a new bridge will link Coplay and Northampton. The original bridge was a wooden structure dating back to 1856. The state of Pennsylvania granted a private company the right to sell stock to finance the bridge. The charter listed 31 stockholders; the stock par value was valued at $25 a share. The total subscription totaled $10,450.

Two prominent share holders were Adam Laubach (Laubach Avenue), a successful Northampton businessman, and Edward Schreiber of Coplay, a well-known farmer.

The first tolls were collected in 1957. Rates were 1 cent per passenger; 6-1/2 cents per horse and carriage; 20-1/2 cents per head of cattle; and 37-1/2 cents per six horses and wagon.

You could obtain an annual license: Peter Laubach $15 - hauling lumber for homes and barns; Edward Schreiber $10 - business connected with his farm.

The salary for toll collectors ranged from $5 a month to $120 per year.

The tolls collected in 1858 were $618. A dividend of $1 per share was declared in 1870. In 1877, the dividend rate was set at 8 percent.

The bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1862. The rebuilt structure would serve the public until July 27, 1931, when the last passenger crossed. In 1892, the bridge was purchased by Lehigh and Northampton counties for the sum of $10,525.

In the spring of 1931, the roof and sidewalls were removed to lighten the structure until a new bridge would be built. During the last five years, the bridge had to be closed on occasion to reinforce the bridge. There was a fear the structure would give way to heavy traffic. The razing of the bridge began on July 27 and the “Old Coplay Bridge” soon was a memory.

The Whittaker & Diehl Company was given the contract to construct the new bridge. We were given the dedication booklet for the bridge. It was quite a program! Automobiles paraded from Coplay Town Hall, across the bridge,

up Main Street to the Northampton Municipal Building and simultaneously from Northampton to Coplay and back to the bridge approach. Following that, participants marched to the center of the bridge.

An American Legion Bugle Corps headed each division. Northampton Legion Bugle Corps, Fullerton Legion Bugle Corps and Klinger’s Municipal Band provided music. I wish they were all marching today!

Speakers were: invocation - the Rev. Koch, Coplay; historian - the Rev. John Baer Stoudt; chief state engineer - Samuel Eckels; president of Lehigh Valley Motor Club - John Rupp; president of Northampton County Club - Samuel Horn; benediction - Father Repchick, Northampton.

According to the program, cement for the bridge was provided by Universal Atlas and Lehigh Portland cement companies; sand - Alliance Sand Company; lumber - Trexler Lumber and F.W. Wint Company; stone - Northampton Quarrying Company; hardware and lumber - H. A. Miller Company.

The burgess (today’s mayor) of Northampton was Dr. Charles Fox, whose brother, Dr. William Fox, served the medical needs of Coplay residents.

The weekly “Cement News” on Aug. 24, 1931, greeted readers with this headline: Bridge open to traffic lures automobiles and pedestrians, large crowd attending celebration exercises appropriately opening and dedicating a magnificent Coplay-Northampton Bridge.

For 75 years, the bridge has faithfully served our transportation needs. Hopefully, the new structure will last for a century!

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See you again in two weeks.