“… June is bustin’ out all over!
All over the meadow and the hill
Buds’re bustin’ outa bushes
And the rompin’ river pushes
Ev’ry little wheel that wheels
Beside a mill …
Because it’s June!...”
~ “June is Bustin’ Out All Over”
~ from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Carousel,” one of my very favorite musicals
~ 1956
The beautiful month of June is bustin’ out all over the historic town of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, with boaters on the Delaware River enjoying the picture-perfect postcard day of June 1, 2024.
To the left, the historic Northampton Street Bridge, commonly called the Free Bridge, can be seen from my vantage point across the river at Delaware Canal State Park, Easton, Pennsylvania near the Forks of the Delaware Trailhead of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail). The iconic Jimmy’s Hot Dog Stand can be seen to the right of the bridge.
The Free Bridge that spans the two states was completed in 1896 and survived massive flooding from Hurricane Diane in 1955. It underwent a thorough restoration in 1990 and is one of my very favorite places to photograph.
New programmable LED lights were installed as part of a bridge rehabilitation/improvement project that spanned from late 2021 until spring 2023. The bridge is colloquially referred as the “Free Bridge” to distinguish it from the Easton-Phillipsburg Toll Bridge (previously the Bushkill Street Bridge), a short distance upstream.
Phillipsburg was established March 8, 1861 and was named for William Phillips, an early settler of the area.
Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.
