Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge, Railroad bridge in Cumberland County, United States.
The Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge is a concrete railway bridge that crosses the Susquehanna River, connecting downtown Harrisburg to Cumberland County by way of City Island. It spans the water in a series of arches and follows a plain functional style common to early concrete construction of the 20th century.
A first wooden bridge opened at this crossing in 1839 to serve the growing railroad traffic of the region, and after several rebuilds it was replaced by the current concrete structure finished in 1916. That transition marked a shift from older wood and iron construction toward modern concrete engineering.
The bridge passes over City Island, a river island now used as a public park where families from Harrisburg spend summer days. Visitors to the island can see the old rail crossing up close, standing quietly above the water between two shores.
The bridge has not been in active use since the late 1980s and cannot be crossed by train. It is best seen from City Island or from the riverbanks along the Susquehanna, where the full structure is visible without obstruction.
Shortly after the concrete bridge opened in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson was among the first to cross it. That detail is rarely mentioned today, even though it gives the structure a small but real place in American presidential history.
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