Then and Now: Witmer’s Bridge
A Study of Witmer’s Bridge
In 1933, local artist Ruth Hager painted this study of the nine arch bridge that then spanned the Conestoga River on the east side of Lancaster at Bridgeport. Completed in 1800 and named for its builder, Witmer’s Bridge was 19 feet wide and 540 feet in length. Constructed as a toll bridge, Abraham Witmer collected tolls on the bridge until the County and later the Commonwealth took over operation of the bridge. In 1933, the same year Ruth Hager completed her study, Witmer’s Bridge was torn down to make way for the present Route 462 bridge.
Abraham Witmer’s Bridge
Witmer’s Bridge was actually the second bridge constructed by Witmer at Bridgeport. An act passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on September 22, 1787 authorized construction of the first bridge and set a schedule of tolls. Completed in 1789 and most likely constructed of wood, that structure quickly proved to be inadequate to handle ever-increasing traffic and weight loads. A subsequent act dated April 4, 1798 authorized Witmer to construct a new stone bridge. Constructed between 1799 and 1800, that bridge (as painted by Ruth Hager above) contained a stone tablet on the north wall that read:
Erected by / Abraham Witmer / M.D.C.C.XC.IX – M.D.C.C.C. / A Law of an Enlightened / Commonwealth / Passed April 4, 1798, / Thomas Mifflin, Governor, / Sanctioned this Monument / of the Public Spirit / of an / Individual
Below the plaque was a milestone indicating that Philadelphia was 61 miles away and Lancaster only one mile away.
Carved into the stone abutment on the south side was the following inscription:
This Bridge / Was Built by / Abr. Witmer / and / His Wife / In the Year / 1800
In 1812, the County attempted to purchase the bridge so that it would be toll-free. However the County was dissatisfied with the amount of $58,444.44 put forth by a committee empowered to determine a fair price. Legal issues and the death of Witmer in 1818 delayed the sale until 1827 when David Witmer, brother of Abraham, accepted a payment of $26,000 on behalf of his brother’s estate.
For over one hundred years following the 1827 acquisition of the bridge by the County, Witmer’s Bridge continued to serve the needs of the public. By the early 1930s the bridge was deemed inadequate for present needs and was torn down by the Commonwealth to make way for the present bridge designated as the Route 462 (East King Street) Bridge by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Engineers saved and reset the stone plaque and mile marker from the earlier bridge during the 1933 replacement.
Who Was Ruth Hager?

Born in Millersville in 1899 as Ruth Mayer, Hager was the daughter of Christian F. and Clara Stambauch Mayer. She studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and was a charter member of the Lancaster Sketch Club and the Lancaster County Art Association. She was also a member of the Plastic Club of Philadelphia, an organization founded as the first art club for women in Philadelphia and the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
In addition to a career as a fourth grade teacher at Wickersham Elementary School (where she was one of five winners in a favorite teacher contest), Hager also operated the Ruth Hager Art Gallery and studio in her own home. She married Nathaniel Hager in 1921 and had two children with him – a son Nathaniel Hager, Jr. born in 1922 and a daughter Elaine born in 1928. Note the initials “RMH” in the lower right corner of the Witmer’s Bridge painting signed Ruth Hager on the reverse. At the time of her death in 1968 at the age of 68 she was married to Thomas H. Carmitchell.
A Critique of Ruth Hager’s Work
In April of 1933, the Lancaster Sketch Club hosted an exhibit of local artists in which Ruth Hager’s study of Witmer’s Bridge appeared. The gathering featured an informal talk by art critic, curator, and collector Dr. Christian Brinton. A critique of many of the pieces appeared in an article published in the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal on April 27, 1933. In reference to two works exhibited by Ruth Hager, the article states:
“Ruth Hager’s study of Witmer [sic] Bridge makes up for a few flaws in perspective by especially good water effects. In a glimpse of rolling countryside, viewed from a hilltop, she again shows a nice discrimination for high-key color, handling the sunny greens with admirable discretion. Mrs. Hager is also showing an excellent still-life study, its rich wine-reds and effective setting for a vase of slim white lilies.”
In October 1951 the Octorara Art Association hosted an exhibition of Hagar’s paintings at the Walter Hood Room of the Oxford Hotel in Oxford, Chester County. According to an article that appeared in the Lancaster Sunday News on October 21, 1951, “her work was judged as showing ‘distinctive and creative imagination’ by Paul Honore, nationally known muralist and book illustrator.” Other critics were particularly impressed by “her flower studies and use of shadows on a still life of a bottle of ivy…. A pastel, ‘Water Everywhere’ attracted attention for its unusual format. Mrs. Hagar employed the ocean as a mat and featured vacationists’ umbrellas against a backdrop of sand and modern homes.”
Witmer’s Bridge from Another Perspective
Ruth Hager was not the only local artist to capture Witmer’s Bridge in her work. Prolific local artist Florence Starr Taylor (also a member of the Lancaster Sketch Club) sketched this image of the paddleboat Lady Gay at Witmer’s Bridge on the Conestoga River. Part of a collection of Taylor’s work donated by Ron and Virginia Ettelman to LancasterHistory, these two images have the added benefit of providing a glimpse into the process taken by Taylor as she refined her perspective from rough sketch to finished product.
LancasterHistory is very fortunate to have photographs and images of vanished or long-forgotten landmarks like Witmer’s Bridge and even more fortunate to have been entrusted with representative samples of work from talented local twentieth-century female artists such as Ruth Hager and Florence Starr Taylor. Please explore LancasterHistory’s Online Collections Database to learn more about these individuals as well as many other stories and people that have contributed to the history of Lancaster County!
From Object Lessons