Harrisburg’s historic Market Street Bridge
In Harrisburg, there once was a guy named Harvey Taylor.
Old Harve, as he was generally known, rose up from a rough childhood in Shipoke (back when the neighborhood was known for steelworkers guzzling rotgut, not lobbyists sipping mojitos) to become a leader of the state Senate and a formidable Republican power broker.
And he got a major bridge named for himself.
Back in the 1940s and ‘50s, Taylor and his minions often ran roughshod over the people of Harrisburg, pushing through unwise and unpopular legislation that favored state workers over city residents.
That’s how once-quaint Front, 2nd and Forster streets turned into dangerous, auto-choked atrocities. And that’s how Taylor ended up with his namesake bridge, one that dumps multiple lanes of high-speed traffic into the heart of Harrisburg.
Taylor’s “gift” to his people arguably did more damage to his native city than all the floods of the 20th century combined. Much of Harrisburg was suddenly unlivable, and it became far easier to flee to the suburbs, where you could cross the street without the risk of death.
Those were the bad old days, right?
Yes, they were. But an unfortunate reminder emerged this week as the state Senate voted to insert language into a bill that would change the name of the historic Market Street Bridge, which runs almost exclusively through Harrisburg, adding the name of the late state Sen. Harold Mowery.
Now, Mowery was, by all accounts, a conscientious civil servant, and, in today’s hyper-partisan environment, the state legislature could use more like him, a man known for putting the public ahead of his party.
However, that’s not the point.
The state Senate took its 49-1 vote without bothering to ask the people of Harrisburg if they wanted the name of the bridge changed. Yes, it’s state-owned, but it’s also a beloved, historic and beautiful structure that is an essential part of the city, sharing a name with one its key thoroughfares. The picturesque, century-old stone span bridge—and its name—is as much a part of the city’s historic fabric as St. Patrick’s Cathedral or the Broad Street Market, and, in fact, is on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a staple of Harrisburg postcards, photos and, now, Instagram pics.
Yet the Senate, led by Cumberland County Sen. Mike Regan, pushed through the bill without any apparent regard for this history or the people who live here. In fact, the lone “no” vote came from Harrisburg’s own state Sen. John DiSanto, influenced by opposition from his constituents.
Harrisburg residents, I’m sure, don’t have a problem with a bridge being named for the late Sen. Mowery. I’m equally certain that there are plenty of deserving spans in sprawling, watery Cumberland County, which Mowery represented for 30 years, which could bear his name. But this isn’t Cumberland County, and it isn’t the senator’s hometown of Camp Hill. It’s Dauphin County, and it’s Harrisburg.
The Senate vote smacks of the type of high-handedness that we hoped we’d left behind years ago. It’s a return to the bad old days when the state enacted unwanted and counterproductive policies without the participation, much less the consent, of the people most directly affected.
We urge the legislature to strip this language, which would change the given name of the historic Market Street Bridge, from its final bill.
Author: Lawrance Binda
