The Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge was a bridge spanning the Delaware River between Milanville, Damascus Township, Pennsylvania and the hamlet of Skinners Falls in Cochecton, New York from 1902 to 2025. The long Baltimore truss bridge carried traffic of Calkins Road (State Route 1002) in Milanville and Skinners Falls Road in Cochecton over a single wooden lane of traffic until its final closure in October 2019. The bridge was one of two bridges on the National Register of Historic Places along the river in Sullivan County (the other being Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct), and was a contributing member of the Milanville Historic District.
Replacing a ferry run by descendants of the Skinner family, the Milanville Bridge Company came into existence in May 1901 to establish a new bridge between the two communities. After facing local opposition from competing bridges along the river, the bridge, built by the American Bridge Company of New York City, opened in November 1902. A flood in late March 1904 wiped out the New York span of the bridge, requiring reconstruction of the span. The New York–Pennsylvania Joint Interstate Bridge Commission bought the bridge in April 1923, eliminating the Milanville Bridge Company and tolls on the bridge.
The bridge in its later years struggled to stay together as it aged. After several attempts to repair the bridge through closings and repairs, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) closed the bridge for good on October 16, 2019 after finding parts of the bridge deteriorating. Despite multiple attempts to consider restoration of the old bridge, a metal brace fell into the river in 2024, resulting in the necessity of removing the structure from the river. Initial hopes were to dismantle the bridge and restore it offsite, but on December 17, 2024 PennDOT announced that the bridge would be demolished entirely due to the main failure and the lack of expectation that it would survive the dismantling project. Demolition of the bridge began exactly five months later on April 17, 2025 and the bridge ceased to exist on April 21. The bridge was in service for nearly 117 years when it was closed in 2019.
As of the bridge's removal, there is no longer any bridge at this location. The closest Delaware River crossings are now the Cochecton–Damascus Bridge to the north and the Narrowsburg–Darbytown Bridge to the south.
Design The Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge was a steel truss bridge with two spans. A form of a Baltimore truss, the bridge contained a wooden deck with steel stringers that supported the deck. The single lane along the span is wide and has a vertical clearance of . However, in order to restrict traffic before the closure of the bridge, there were clearance bars placed on each side of the bridge. These helped prevent overweight vehicles from crossing the structure.
Early history and construction (1764–1902) In 1764, the crossing from Skinners Falls to Milanville was the location of timber rafting for one of the most prominent families in the area, the Skinners. That year, Daniel Skinner took the first timber raft down the Delaware River. Completing this accomplishment, Skinner received the name "Lord High Admiral", an honor that still stands to this date. The Skinners lived in a place christened as Milanville, but was known more locally as Skinners Falls. Upstream from the falls along the Delaware, another member of the Skinner family, Milton L. Skinner, operated a private ferry across the river between Pennsylvania and New York. Along with his brother, Volney, Milton Skinner also operated a local sawmill in Pennsylvania. For many years, these two rivermen remained prominent in the area.
Money for the construction of a new bridge over the Delaware River came in March 1899. At that time, Milanville was selected a crossing due to being a location for the convergence of nine local roads and it would serve as a way to have tourists into Wayne County. At the time, early speculation said that the bridge could be open by autumn of 1899.
However, it would not be until May 1901 that the Pennsylvania Legislature would approve a bill to incorporate the Milanville Bridge Company, a firm run by Milton Skinner and other shareholders to maintain a bridge between Milanville and the then-hamlet of Skinner's Switch, New York. The stock required for construction would be $15,000 with room to expand to $18,000 if required by the company. The charter also stated that the bridge would have to be at least between th side railings and have a wooden deck no less than thick. Piers would have to be built where it would not affect the navigational channel for the Delaware River watercraft to use. The charter stated that the new bridge would have to be built by May 1906.
The Milanville Bridge Company acquired $10,000 of the $15,000 required by the middle of July 1901. In late August 1901, the company awarded a construction contract to the American Bridge Company of New York City. Construction was underway by November 1901, and initial hope was for an opening in early 1902. Stone for the new abutments and piers arrived by December. The stone came from a local quarry. With the new bridge, locals surmised that the area around Skinner's Switch would grow massively from the construction of the new bridge and access to Milanville. The Erie Railroad would build a new milk station at Skinner's and thoughts were the railroad might build a new passenger station as well. There was also proposal of building a road from Lake Huntington. However, weather caused construction of the bridge to stop in January 1902.
Local opposition came during this period from the owners of the nearby Narrowsburg–Darbytown Bridge (to the south) and the Cochecton–Damascus Bridge (to the north). John Anderson, representing the Cochecton–Damascus Bridge ownership, took a trip to Albany, New York to voice his opposition to the new bridge, citing unnecessary competition. Both sides (Anderson and the Milanville Bridge Company) came to an agreement that the bridge's single-lane design would result in limited use in comparison to the two surrounding bridges, which were both wider and multiple lanes for ease of traffic. The bridge opened in November 1902, with a complete cost of $14,000.
Private ownership (1902–1923)
After construction of the Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge was completed in late 1902, tolls were immediately charged along the one lane structure. However, unlike the other two bridges, the Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge cost $0.22 (1902 USD, equal to $ today). A person traveling on foot did not have to pay to cross the structure. This decision was different compared to the other bridges, which made it separate. Another decision was that ministers were not tolled so they could better serve their communities. However, when one minister began to abuse the special privilege, he was charged $0.05 for crossing. The tollhouse for collection was in Milanville and was run by the Dexter family.
Ice caused a massive flood along the Delaware River on the night of March 27, 1904. During that flood, the river reached higher than normal and flooded much of the valley around the town of Cochecton. Flooding and ice blocks caused damage to houses, barns and other structures in the area. Along with the Callicoon Bridge, built two years prior after another flood, the Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge had a section washed away in the flooding. Believed to have been caused by the failure of one of its piers, the New York span of the bridge floated down the river for along with the failed pier and one of the abutments, to a spot where it stopped moving. The rest of the bridge remained intact from the flooding. The Milanville Bridge Company offered up new bonds to pay for the repairs and in June 1904, the Owego Bridge Company took a contract to repair the bridge and construction began quickly. Later investigation found that the piers on the bridge were not properly anchored and the movement of the piers resulted in the destruction of the New York span of the bridge. As part of the reconstruction effort, the bridge span would be taken to the company's factory and have the truss straightened after the flood caused damage to the ironwork. After the reconstruction, the bridge span would be brought back to the site and anchored on the new piers. The expectation at the time was the repaired structure would be opened by September 1, 1904. The bridge repairs would cost $7,000 (1904 USD, equal to $ today) and reopened in November 1904.
With the reopening of the bridge, and along with the newly constructed Erie Railroad station, a new revitalization came to Skinners Falls and Milanville, including an acid company, creamery, and a dairy company, which helped raise income for the bridge using the $0.22 toll. One company that could not make it is the Skinners' timber rafting, which had been in business for over 140 years. In 1914, J. Skinner was the new owner, but the company was devastated when one of their timber rafts collided with a Myers family-owned ferryboat, killing four. The blame was placed on the ferry operator. However, along with the tragedy, the lack of riverside forests made it hard for timber rafting to prosper and in 1914, they closed their doors.
Bridge Commission ownership (1923–2024)
With the opening of the New York–Pennsylvania Joint Bridge Commission, a predecessor of the current Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, in the 1920s to buy out these bridges from private ownership, the tolls along the bridges of the Delaware were beginning to come to an end. News broke in mid-April 1923 that the New York–Pennsylvania Joint Bridge Commission had purchased the Skinners Falls–Milanville Bridge for $19,005. Homer Greene, the attorney for the Joint Commission, along with E. A. Lamb, Secretary of Engineers for the Joint Commission, represented the government while Milton Skinner and L. J. Hocker of the Milanville Bridge Company represented their company. It marked the third bridge in recent months to have its toll eliminated, following the Callicoon Bridge and the Cochecton–Damascus Bridge.
With the new owners, the bridge was kept under routine maintenance, and the bridge has continued to maintain a strong structure. Even with the floods from Hurricanes Connie and Diane of 1955 and the 1960s, the bridge survived with little to no structural damage. From May to October 1986, the commission closed the bridge to do some renovations. The wooden deck was replaced, the entire bridge was painted, and new guide rails were constructed. The 3 ton (6000 lb) weight limit remained after the revamping. On November 14, 1988, the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places. () The Register determined that it was a rare multiple-span Baltimore truss still intact in the country, along with the fact that its location on the Delaware River helped keep its unique historical look. Other factors included the decorative railings and ornaments that were on the ironwork, unusual compared to most Baltimore trusses. The bridge also became part of the Milanville Historic District in 1993.
Bridge cracks and deck problems (1991–1994)