“…
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.