History of the Matsonford Bridge between Conshohocken and West Conshohocken

History of the Matsonford Bridge between Conshohocken and West Conshohocken

by Brian Coll (with so much previous research by Jack Coll)

2/13/2026

If you have ever read the book Remembering Conshohocken & West Conshohocken by Jack Coll you will recognize most of what you will read in this article. There is a little more of this and a little less of that…… If you can find a copy, please go read more about the history of our bridges.

Before I go into the history of the bridges between our two boroughs… I have to mention the Conshy Adult Prom – The Great Gatsby. Being held on February 28th at the Great American Pub. Tickets are $100 and all the money raised goes to 3 local charities. Buy your tickets in person at Coll’s Custom Framing or use this link to see all the details.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/conshohocken-adult-prom-great-gatsby-tickets-1788805829389?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Okay, let’s look at the history of the ways to cross the Schuylkill River between Conshohocken and West Conshohocken. Conshohocken was incorporated as a borough on May 15th 1850 and West Conshohocken was incorporated as a borough on October 6th, 1874. We had ways to cross the river between our two boroughs going back to before the Revolutionary War.

Before we had a bridge, we had a ford. A ford is often referred to a shallow area where a person can wade, ride a horse across the river. Peter Matson and his sons improved upon a shallow area about 75-100 yards upstream from our current bridge. The placed large stones and used timber to help travelers between the two boroughs. Peter and his sons owned property on both sides of the river.

They built the original ford between 1741 and 1775 and it shows up in the history books in 1777 and again in 1778. If these dates look familiar to you, these are the times when battles were fought during the Revolutionary War.

Peter Matson’s house was located on the banks of the river in the West Conshohocken side of the river. His family’s house took some damage during the battles. Peter passed away in 1778.

Between Conshohocken and West Conshohocken, we have shared five different bridges. Before the bridges there was a Ford built by Peter Matson and his sons. After the Ford came a covered bridge when the covered bridge failed our boroughs built a steel bridge. After the steel bridge Conshohocken and West Conshohocken built a temporary wooden bridge in order to build the original concrete arched bridge and when that came down in the mid 80s, we built our current bridge. 

In the early 1830s members of the Mason family formed a bridge company. The original name of their bridge company was The President, Manager and Company of the Schuylkill Bridge of Matson‘s Ford. At some point, the name shortened to the Matson‘s Ford Bridge Company. And at a later date, it was renamed the Mason Ford Bridge Company in 1833 They constructed a covered bridge. The early bridges simply spanned the river from bank to bank. The covered bridge measured 520 feet long and 25 feet wide. The cost of the first bridge was $13,000 in 1839. The covered bridge was wiped out in early spring. It was quickly rebuilt and opened in October 1840. 

On September 2, 1850 the river swelled and took out the bridge once again. The bridge washed down the Schuylkill River, and was later found in Philadelphia, but remained in fairly good condition. They salvaged the bridge and rebuild it.

In 1860 railroad tracks were installed on the bridge. This led to increased revenue and the railroad trains were pulled by mules which helped travelers move their goods.

The unique thing was this was a tollbridge. Once you exited from the covered bridge into Conshohocken you paid a toll. And then you crossed a short covered bridge that crossed the canal.

There was a large toll schedule at the time. There was different rates for every horse and mule for every horse and rider. Every passenger by foot paid one cent however, should you be attending a funeral on one side of the bridge or the other… They did not collect a toll. This also applied to all persons going to or returning from military parades going to or returning from church, there was also no charge for children going to or coming home from school.

By the late 1860’s, The covered bridge had fallen into disrepair. The Matson Ford Bridge Company opted to remove the covered span and replace it with a more modern wood and steel open air bridge.

In 1886 they Matson Ford bridge Company was purchased by Montgomery county and the toll system was abolished.

In the early 20th century the steel bridge was starting to show some wear and tear. Repairs were made. However by 1916 several trucks had fallen through the wooden planks of the steel bridge. The structure was deteriorating and the Montgomery County commissioners assigned four watchmen to monitor the amount of traffic allowed on the bridge at one time. The watchmen had to determine the weight of the vehicles and keep the speed limit to 4 mph. Any trucks that looked too heavy was ordered to drive to Norristown to cross the bridge there.

Remember, the major highways did not exist at this time. It wasn’t until December 8th, 1952 that Isabel Tyson cut the ribbon to open the ramp in West Conshohocken to the Schyulkill Expressway. It wasn’t until December 19th of 1991 when the Blue Route officially opened for its entire length.

Automobiles were very rare in the Conshohockens in the early 20th century. John Brothers opened up shop around 1917 to start repairing the early horseless buggies.

You can visit John Brothers today on East 2nd Avenue, right next to the Great American Pub.

In 1918 plans for a new more modern concrete bridge came into place. In order to build the concrete bridge they had to build a temporary wooden bridge to be used during the 2+ years of construction of the new bridge. In 1919 workers began the temporary bridge and on December 27, 1919 the first concrete was poured on the West Conshohocken side of the river. A retaining wall came first. Then on March 5, 1920 large chunks of ice in the rapidly flowing river washed out the temporary bridge. By June the temporary bridge was back in service.

The total cost of the concrete bridge was going to be $638,500.00. In the cost of the bridge building, it also included removing 10 buildings in order to make room for the new bridge. These buildings included the home of Peter Matson located on the West Conshohocken side of the river homes owned by John Sowers and his brother Monroe. At the corner of Front and Ford street was a barbershop owned and operated by Robert Reid. The property next to the barbershop contained a blacksmith shop, wheelwright buildings and a house all owned by J. Fred Beaumont. On the Conshohocken side of the river was the old Conshohocken hotel, which was once owned and operated by James Wells. You may recognize the name James Wells from Wells St., James Wells signature can be found on the contract in incorporation papers. In addition to the Conshohocken hotel, the tollbooth as well as the home of the bridge caretaker and one of the first iron mills erected in the borough were also demolished.

When the bridge opened in 1921 it spanned the Schuykill River, the canal, three sets of railroad tracks in addition to two roads. It was twice as wide as the covered bridge.

My dad Jack tells an amazing story of when the bridge opened in 1921 the road looked like cobblestones, but it was actually wooden blocks. They coated the roadway with oil and Creosote. Creosote was like kerosene. The roadway was very slippery when it rained and very dangerous. Cars were sliding across the bridge at a terrifying rate. Within six months, the blocks were removed and a hard surface was installed.

These wood blocks were soaked in a flammable material and residents were taking them home and using them in their indoor fireplace. The oils that has soaked the wood were now lining people’s chimneys. For months after the wood blocks were removed from the bridge many residences were having chimney fires and our local fire departments had to put out many fires.

When the bridge opened in 1921 it was one of the finest bridges in the country however, by the 1970s, it was in bad shape. When you walked over the bridge, you noticed holes, forming in the sidewalks and potholes lined to bridge itself. The concrete railing had also started to deteriorate.

If you are still reading, I want to point out that Conshohocken and West Conshohocken have maintained a bridge over the river for centuries at this point. We have a bridge. We do not need another one. I understand that the borough of Conshohocken is looking into a road diet program where lanes of Fayette Street may be reduced. I’m not a politician, just a person that looks at Fayette Street every day of my life. I am not sure if a road diet is the solution to our problems. Traffic is bad. If we have less lanes on Fayette Street it will just push the traffic further up the street, onto Butler Pike. The solution may actually be another bridge. That bridge does not need to be in Conshohocken though. We are a one square mile borough, Whitemarsh and Lower Merion may need a bridge. The borough of Conshohocken does not need another bridge.

Our current bridge opened on November 27, 1987. The current bridge took over a year and a half to construct following the implosion in the spring of 1986. Our current bridge cost $12 million.

We have a story about the implosion in 1986 but it’s best if you ask Jack or myself Brian Coll about that if you see one of us. 

There have been a few efforts to change the name of the bridge over the years. In 1987 the Conshohocken Chamber of Commerce suggested the name be changed to the Conshohocken Bridge and in the year 2000 veteran John DiRusso petitioned the West Conshohocken council to rename it, the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge. John turned his attention elsewhere and part of the Blue Route does in fact have a Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge. The Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge crosses the Schuykill River just upstream from the Matsonford Bridge. The most recent time of someone trying to change the name was when a Conshohocken family and a West Conshohocken family got together in order to honor their father‘s legacies. Joe Claybourne and James Dougherty were both police chiefs. Joe served West Conshohocken for many years and Cheif Dougherty served Conshohocken for many years. Both men were beloved by their communities. The two boroughs and PennDOT named the walkways on the bridge between the sister boroughs the Clay Doc walkway.

We thought this was a good time to share this information. Most of this information appeared in the book, remembering Conshohocken and West Conshohocken by Jack Coll. With this being the 250th anniversary of our great nation, we here at Conshystuff are trying to share more historical articles with all of you our readers.

Thanks for reading.

The first photo in this article was taken in 1866, the second photo in 1976, the third and final photo in 2026.