With its ornate white portals and weathered cedar sides, Rapp's Bridge is one of the prettiest and most interesting of the Chester County Bridges. Rapp's Bridge is also near the ruin of an old mill, known as Snyder's Mill. The mill was the Revolutionary Powder Works in 1775, but was operated by Snyder as a linseed oil mill after 1840. The public right-of-way at the mill historical site provides excellent parking and the mill increases the interest of the site. At one time, George Rapp and his sons operated the mill, and that is the source of the name. Located in a highly developed and increasingly suburbanized region, Rapp's Bridge carries heavy traffic, but is well kept up and in very fine condition. We do believe that Chester County, East Pikeland township and Pennsylvania have an unrealized opportunity for a very fine suburban heritage park, if traffic were to be diverted to a new, modern bridge and the covered bridge, French Creek waterway and ruined mill were to be incorporated in a public park.
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