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In the late 1800s, James W. LeGore started construction on a bridge that eventually cost him "over $100,000" according to a 1910 book entitled "History of Frederick County Maryland." This year, the same bridge will cost the county about $1.06 million just to restore, said Andrew McGilvray of the county Office of Transportation Engineering.
LeGore Bridge, which crosses the Monocacy River north of Woodsboro, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, supports daily traffic when open and is the centerpiece of a large chunk of Woodsboro town history. It has been closed to the public since May so more than $1 million in repairs could be done on the aging structure. Restoration will be complete in early November, McGilvray said. Eight to 10 crewmembers each weekday have been required to keep up with the renovation's six-month timeline, he said.
"The majority of the work that we're doing is replacing that mortar," he said.
The undertaking has also included replacement of some of the masonry stones, installation of a more modern and effective drainage system for the surface of the bridge, repaving the roadway and reinforcing the foundations of the piers with grout, McGilvray said.
The rehabilitation of LeGore Bridge won't be as expensive as the county initially anticipated, he said. Still, the final cost of the repair will be more than twice as much as any other bridge in the county's 2009 capital budget. Most of the other bridges see far more traffic per day but McGilvray said so much money was designated to the project because of the amount and nature of repairs needed for such an aged structure.
This most recent round of repairs is not the first for the bridge, however. In 1981 it was repaved, some of the grout between stones was replaced and concrete was poured around the base of the piers, McGilvray said.
Inspiration for the bridge
According to "History of Frederick County, Maryland," James W. LeGore became president of LeGore Combination Lime Company after his father and brother both passed away. The company was "one of the largest enterprises of its kind in Frederick County, and a leader in its line in Maryland." Over the years, LeGore made himself into a very wealthy and prominent member of the community. He explored many other business ventures besides the lime company and was well known throughout the town and the county, the book said. One such venture was his namesake bridge.
McGilvray said LeGore built it to get stone from his lime quarry to the northern part of the county. James LeGore's great grandson, Rondel LeGore of Walkersville, said it was part of a project that would've resulted in a railroad between Gettysburg and Washington, D.C. had it ever been completed. He is in possession of a pamphlet labeled "To All Who Are Interested In The Proposed Washington, LeGore & Gettysburg Railroad and Power Company."
There is no date on the document, but it explains plans for a dam on the Monocacy that would power an electric rail line through the town. It encourages readers to help finance the project by purchasing stock in the company.
"The story was that Mr. LeGore supervised almost the placement of every stone," said Dahl Drenning, a Woodsboro history buff.
"He wasn't an engineer or anything, he just sat down and started drawing the design for this bridge," McGilvray said. Rondel LeGore agreed and said James LeGore used a very basic telescopic level to align the placement of the piers and most likely oversaw a lot of the original construction since it was done by uneducated quarry workers. "Piecing it together was pretty much a hands on kind of an operation," Rondel LeGore said. "There weren't a bunch of engineers on the site."
Hardships and pitfalls
Although LeGore Bridge and the proposed dam and railroad project were some of James LeGore's most ambitious plans, he faced some obstacles while trying to see them through.
In addition to regular construction delays caused by nature, Rondel LeGore said a story that's been passed down through the generations is one of attempted sabotage of the bridge before its completion by some bitter Creagerstown residents. LeGore said the saboteurs were angry about the bridge's placement north of Woodsboro because they also needed a bridge in their town and decided to show their discontent by dynamiting it. He said it didn't affect the project significantly but the construction was still completed under the watch of an armed guard.
A much larger setback was James LeGore's stroke, which Rondel LeGore said happened right around the time the investment pamphlet was distributed to the public. When none of LeGore's sons stepped forward to lead the dam and railroad project, including Rondel LeGore's grandfather Walter, "it all went downhill from there," he said.
Another tragedy for the family was James' son, George LeGore, committing suicide by jumping off the bridge because of a terminal illness.
When the county finally decided to purchase the bridge after a period of time when that promise was withdrawn, it was bought for only about $50,000, less than half of what LeGore spent to build it, according to 1976 and 1979 articles from The News.But despite the tragedies and disappointments associated with it, LeGore Bridge still spans high over the Monocacy River.
"When they had the big hurricane come through here, Agnes, it took out a heck of a lot of the bridges on the Monocacy River," LeGore said. But not LeGore Bridge.
While the structure will probably need more repairs in 20 or 30 years, the skeleton will last at least another 100 years, McGilvray said. Because it is made primarily of stone and not concrete or steel, substances that corrode, LeGore Bridge might very well stand tall throughout another century or two of other bridges wearing out, he said.
E-mail Courtney Pomeroy at cpomeroy@gazette.net.
