part is now presented for the first time and the whole of it put in form to be of interest, if not of value. The recent destruction of the Columbia bridge prompted my writing a sketch of it, so that there might be a record made of its continuous history, and I will open this paper with that sketch

The First Columbia &i4 By Robert H. GOODELL On March 28, 1809, an act of Assembly was approved, which authorized the Governor of Pennsylvania to incorporate a company for the purpose of making and erecting a bridge over the Susquehanna. River in Lancaster County, at or near the town of Columbia