Zoarville Station Bridge - A Rich History  

One of the pioneer iron bridges in the United States was designed by a German immigrant named Albert Fink for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in the early 1850s, for which he received a patent. The Zoarville Bridge at Camp Tuscazoar is based on the Fink truss design and was built in 1868 as one of three highway spans crossing the Tuscarawas River and Ohio-Erie Canal in Dover, Ohio. It was moved to its current site in 1905, was abandoned in the 1940s and was purchased by a neighboring farmer in 1969 for $50.
   Railroad technology was often adapted for highway bridges, and few bridges that relate to the early history of railroads remain on any road or railway in the United States. One other Fink truss of this type existed in New Jersey, but was demolished several decades ago. The Zoarville bridge is older than the majority of wooden covered bridges still standing in Ohio. While it may not appear as quaint and picturesque as a covered bridge, from a historical point of view, it is just as important and actually much rarer.

Phoenix Columns

What makes this bridge significant is that, not only is it the rarest of the rare - in terms of the style of bridge - but the end towers, upper chords and intermediate posts are 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. The bridge was built as a 108-foot-long through truss by the engineering firm of Smith, Latrobe and Company of Baltimore, Maryland, later known as the Baltimore Bridge Company.
   The president of this company, Charles Shaler Smith - or "Shaler", as he was called - was credited with introducing the use of Phoenix Columns in railroad trestles. Shaler was considered the greatest American engineer of his day, responsible for an enormous amount of work, including four bridges over the Mississippi, one over the Missouri, and one over the Saint Lawrence. His company advertisements boasted of 13 miles of bridges, together with many other works such as roofs, depots, foundations, roundhouses,

piers, etc. Shaler was most famous for his daring and innovative solutions to difficult engineering problems. Shaler died in St. Louis, Missouri in 1886 as the result of a fall while directing the erection of machinery at an exposition building. At his funeral, an elaborate model of a truss bridge with a railroad train, constructed of flowers stood at the altar rail.
   Other members of this company included Benjamin Latrobe, whose greatest achievement was overseeing the extension of the B&O across the Allegheny Mountains, an undertaking considered impossible.
   Benjamin’s son, Charles Latrobe, was also a member of the company. He was famous for his work on the Arequipa Viaduct and the Verrugas Bridge in Peru, which at that time was the highest structure of its kind in the world.
   The least known member of the firm was Frederick Henry Smith, probably a brother to Shaler. Frederick was appointed Engineer of Bridges for the City of Baltimore in 1873. He was also a consulting engineer for the Seaboard Air Line and held seven different patents.

Restoration begins

Restoration began in July 1997 when the Camp Tuscazoar Foundation acquired the bridge and the land under it. The Foundation quickly began to raise money with the goal of dismantling the bridge before it collapsed, then rebuilding and re-erecting it for recreational use. Upon completion, the bridge will carry the Zoar Valley Trail, the intrastate Ohio-to-Erie and Buckeye Trails, and the interstate North Country Scenic Trail. The bridge will also give the youth using the camp access to the Ohio-Erie Canal Corridor and the towpath trail.
   Work has now begun on raising the approaches and abutments, and funds are currently being solicited to finish that work, as well as for the restoration and re-erection of the bridge itself. The bridge is listed on both the Ohio and National Registers of Historic Places, and designations of National Historic Landmark and National Historical Civil Engineering Landmark are pending.

   In September, the Zoarville Station Bridge was dismantled and its components were placed into secure storage.

The Camp Tuscazoar Foundation was also recently presented with an Ohio Historical Marker, which will be emplaced upon completion and dedication of the bridge. Updates on our progress can be viewed at www.tuscazoar.org/ZSB.htm.

Contributors deserve credit

We could not have made progress thus far without the help of numerous organizations: The Ohio Department of Transportation, the Tuscarawas County Commissioners and Engineer, State Senator Greg DiDonato and State Representative Kerry Metzger, the Ohio-Erie Canal Association, the Ohio Historical Society, local contributors such as the Frease, Rosenberry and Haman Family Foundations, Wayne Mutual Insurance Company of Wooster, Ohio, the Stark-Wayne-Tuscarawas Joint Solid Waste District, the National Park Service, the Ohio Bicentennial Commission, the Longaberger Basket Company and, most recently, the Marsh Foundation of Dover. A project of this magnitude must involve people at all levels of private business and government. For what has been accomplished thus far, these contributors deserve the credit.

Note: Much of the material in this article was derived from the Historic American Engineering Record, Zoarville Station Bridge, #OH-84, authored by William M. Lawrence, Historian. HAER’s website: www.cr.nps.gov/habshaer/

Coming Events:

Fate of Keppler Lodge painting remains a mystery

    The afternoon sun shimmers across the placid lake. On the far shore, a wooden lodge stands nestled within a grove of tall, spindly pines. Nearby, a row of tents lie waiting for their scouts, who have left for a day of outdoor adventure...

   Forty-seven years ago, Mrs. Charles Ridenbaugh donated a large painting to hang above the fireplace in the brand-new Keppler Lodge (photo at right).
   A newspaper story described the lodge's dedication ceremony on June 7, 1953:
   "Dedication services were held at Camp Tuscazoar by McKinley area scouts yesterday for the Homer Keppler Memorial Lodge. Nearly 200 present heard an address by the Rev. Harold Braun of the St. Peters Episcopal Church of Lakewood... As part of the ceremonies a painting by Mrs. Charles Ridenbaugh... daughter of the late Mr. Keppler, was presented to the lodge by members of the family. The painting was reproduced from a color slide made by Mr. Keppler at the old Massillon area camp at turkey foot."
   This painting hung in Keppler Lodge for more than 30 years, until it disappeared in the mid-80's. The Camp Tuscazoar Foundation and the Keppler family would like to locate this painting and return it to the camp. If you have any information on its whereabouts, please call the camp Ranger at 330-859-2288.

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