Lemoyne Bottleneck

by: Bob Rowland 

Call it what you want: Harris’s Ford, Harris’s Ferry, Kelso’s Ferry, Bridgeport, Riverton, Lemoyne, or by its best known modern name, The Bottleneck. This ideal river crossing point is confined to a very narrow valley between massive rock outcroppings and this configuration has given the location it’s name, The Bottleneck, in Lemoyne, PA. 

It probably all started in the early 1700’s when several fur traders with their long strings of pack animals were converging on the Susquehanna River Crossing by way of the Virginia Path, or the Allegheny Path or maybe even using the New Path through Croghan’s settlement. (1).  Their encounter as they approached the Susquehanna meant that they could only proceed on at a time toward the crossing, and while they were following the Allegheny Path, extending from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, they were still only bridle paths having been widened from moccasin width by the recent horse activity.

The granting of the Ferry license to John Harris in 1733 facilitated movement of wagons on the West Shore but even Tobias Hendricks, who in 1736 was appointed as the Penn’s resident caretaker in Lowther Manor and serving as a Lancaster County Commissioner requiring frequent trips to Lancaster, did not have a wagon or carriage before he died in 1739. (2)

From 1734 thru 1817, when Camelback, the first bridge crossing the river was completed, the Kelso Ferry was the primary method for crossing the river from the West Shore to Harrisburg and points east. Even with construction of the Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge (CCVR) in 1839 close to the Kelso Ferry and the ford, they both were still functioning. Camelback Bridge was closed several times due to fires and ice damage; flood damage in 1846, 1847, 1902-1904. The Peoples Bridge (Walnut Street Bridge) opened in 1904 and the original ford and ferry resumed operation. (3)

With the replacement of the Camelback Bridge in 1902 with the new Market Street Bridge, West Shore traffic conditions greatly improved although an obvious question is why wasn’t the first bridge located over the old ford in order to align with Market Street in Lemoyne which was possible prior to the CVRR bridge being constructed.

It must be noted that the driving forces for a bridge and financing were businessmen in the City of Harrisburg. The plot plan for the Town of Harrisburg was designed by William Maclay, son-in-law of John Harris, Jr. in 1785 and the plan provided that the three streets were Front and Second Streets, both parallel to the river, and Market Street parallel to the river. (4)

In the first years of the Camelback Bridge, the Kelso ford continued to be used when farmers brought their herds of sheep or cattle to Harrisburg to seel and development of trolley lines on both sides of the river created major traffic problems even before automobiles arrived. The roadway from the Market Street Bridge to Market Street in Lemoyne took the brunt of the problems.

The trolley tracks first ran down the center of the roadway thru the bottleneck and then were expanded to double tracks and this situation was compounded when the Pennsylvania Railroad built the low grade line in 1904 and erected the bridge over the intersection. This story about trolleys and feuding with the railroads in covered extensively in the book Valley Railways by C.L. Siebert and Richard Steinmetz. (5)

Traffic congestion continued since initial trolley tracks were installed with rails above the road prohibiting traffic from crossing. By 1910, the trolley line was shifted to a double line against the hill and the bridges were lengthened. (6)

1. Indian Paths of Pennsylvania by Paul A.W. Wallace, 1965

2. Tobias Hendricks, Family Tradition of Service, by the Author, Cumberland County Historical Societyl, Vol. 20-1-2, 2003.

3. Commemorative plaque on the east end of the Market Street Bridge in Harrisburg.

4. This was Harrisburg by Richard H. Steinmetz and Hoffsommer, 1976.

5. Valley Railways by Siebert & Steinmetz, 1982 & 1996.

lbid.

Published by West Shore Historical Society

WEST SHORE POWER PLANT

by

Don Paul Shearer & Bob Rowland

This power plant is located just off and at the curve of the Lemoyne Bottleneck and adjacent to the Susquehanna River and was placed in operation in March 1895 primarily to provide electric to the trolleys that crossed the river from the West Shore to downtown Harrisburg.

It was located at this location in Lemoyne next to the river partly for access to water from the river but also to provide for the delivery of coal from river barges to the plant. 

The original company to operate the plant was the Cumberland Light, Heat & Power Company which was incorporated in September 1894 and which later became part of the United Electric Company in 1903 and was known as the Riverton Plant and then, around 1905 became known as the Lemoyne generating station. In 1928, the plant became part of PP&L.

The Cumberland L.H. & P Company had acquired the property by deed in October from Eliza B. Hummel and Richard Hummel, Trustees and consisting of one acre and 108 perches bounded by the river on the east, the Northern Central Railroad on the west, and by other Hummel property on the other two sides. 

The tract of land is accessible by a 15-feet wide road that runs from the bottleneck to the river which separated the plant from the former Harris/Kelso river ferry tract. The Pennsylvania Railroad, circa 1900, constructed a double rail line along the river side of this power plant tract which reduced its size accordingly. 

The first street (trolley) service on the West Shore was initiated in October 1894 by the Cumberland Valley Traction utilizing the Walnut Street Bridge (the “Peoples Bridge).

This subject Riverton Plant was upgraded in 1908 with the installation of two 750 kw. High pressure turbines and three-phase generators and, in 1917, a General Electric 2500 kw. Turbine was installed at the plant.

With the decline of use of trolleys and with increased demand for domestic power grew, emphasis switched form trolleys to providing more domestic power.

Also, prior to the subdivision of the power plant tract by Eliza and Richard Hummel, an original two-acre tract had improvements on its northern part and, in 1734, John Harris had erected a ferry waiting house on the site and in the 1760’s, a dwelling was erected which became a tavern along with a stable. Those two buildings remained on the residual portion of the property and a 20-foot wide road to the river was reserved between the new power plant site and the remaining residual.

The power plant stands at the same site today and the current owners permitted the two of us to view the interior of the brick building which was later owned and used by a local auto dealership and then later as a warehouse for an office supplies store located on Market Street in Lemoyne. 

About the only thing that has changed in the building is the removal or two smoke stacks. Otherwise, from our interior inspection, the building is almost intact as it was during its electric production days including much if not all of large electrical equipment on one large interior wall.

Sometime between 1903-1905, the Pennsylvania Railroad constructed a new low grade line which crossed over the power plant company between the building and the river which interfered with the delivery of coal from the river barges to the power plant and the owners were forced to install a conveyor system from the barge unloading facility to the far side of the plant building.

The centerline of the Low Grade was 60 feet from the parallel to the plant building and the portion of the conveyor system over the railroad tracks had to be elevated to provide adequate clearance.

Concrete river walls were constructed along the river for mooring the coal barges for unloading and they still remain and can be seen at least from the river and we, by my (Don Paul) pontoon boat (and accompanies by Bill Weigle, visited this mooring wall in 2015 which still has large iron circular connections to which the coal barges were tied while moored and unloading coal for the power plant.  Old photos show as many as seven barges moored there at one time. 

On another note, the Northern Central Railroad ran a rail line that connected Baltimore MD and Sunbury PA to the north although initially it only ran as far north as Harrisburg and this line was later connected with the Cumberland Valley railroad line at the Lemoyne junction and, for many years, trains coming north from York would swing to the west on the CVRR bridge and then backing across the CVRR Susquehanna River bridge into Harrisburg.

However, in 1901, after backing onto the bridge for 50 years, the NCR obtained a right-of-way easement from the owners of the power plant for this new railroad line.

The current owners of the power plant use most of the building for an elevator company that they own and operate and part of the building is also leased including space, as of 2015, at least, to the “Champ Music Venue” which had moved from the Hoover Plaza on State Street in Lemoyne to the power plant in 2014.

They report that they have produced in excess of 750 shows since moving to the power plant and their shows are described as “underground/independent music without interference from the outside world.” Alcohol was never permitted at their shows and their web site indicates that they monitor the parking areas around the building to prevent alcohol drinking and use. We also were allowed to view the interior of this area during our inspection of the building in 2015. 

Prepared for the West Shore Historical Society