Larkin Bridge has been moved and rebuilt. Larkin Bridge originally spanned Marsh Creek at a site now under 60 feet of water, flooded by the dam built in 1972, near the Jesse Larkin gristmill. It was relocated to a higher spot now in Marsh Creek State Park, a remote location in the northern part of the park. This relocation was intended to be temporary but continued until 2006.
Here is the rebuilt Larkin Bridge, at the time of its dedication on a rainy afternoon, June 24, 2006:
The effort by local supporters and officials and political representatives to move the bridge had been years in the making. By March, 1998, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, there was interest in moving the bridge to a site in Hickory Park in Upper Uwlchan Township, although a neighboring township, Wallace, also expressed an interest in acquiring it. Neither of these plans went forward at the time, but the 2006 move was facilitated by the Toll Brothers real estate development company. At its new site the bridge will serve foot and bicycle traffic on a hiking and biking trail system associated with the new residential development there. The bridge was thoroughly rebuilt. It was reported that one third of the components are original, and the rest new, but this must refer only to interior structural components, floorboards, and such, as the external shell seems entirely new. The Burr Arches are original, in any case, and retain their generations of graffitti.
