Near Brick Church in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Cochran Mills Bridge
May 30, 2014
1. COCHRAN MILLS BRIDGE Marker
Inscription.
Cochran Mills Bridge. . In 1800, not too far from here along Cherry Run, George Painter built the first gristmill in Burrell Township. By 1804 he had relocated the mill to this site on Crooked Creek and added a sawmill. The mills changed hands several times and by 1822 a fulling mill was added. The mills eventually came under the ownership of Michael Cochran (1858) and the settlement became known as Cochran Mills. It is the birthplace of Elizabeth Jane Cochran (1864-1922), a female journalist who wrote under the pen name Nellie Bly. An industrialist and charity worker, Bly is notable for feigning insanity to write an undercover expose on mental institutions. In the late 1930s the settlement was razed for the impoundment of Crooked Creek Dam, one of 16 dams which the US Army Corps of Engineers constructed to control flooding along the Allegheny River basin.
In 1800, not too far from here along Cherry Run, George Painter built the first gristmill in Burrell Township. By 1804 he had relocated the mill to this site on Crooked Creek and added a sawmill. The mills changed hands several times and by 1822 a fulling mill was added. The mills eventually came under the ownership of Michael Cochran (1858) and the settlement became known as Cochran Mills. It is the birthplace of Elizabeth Jane Cochran (1864-1922), a female journalist who wrote under the pen name Nellie Bly. An industrialist and charity worker, Bly is notable for feigning insanity to write an undercover expose on mental institutions. In the late 1930s the settlement was razed for the impoundment of Crooked Creek Dam, one of 16 dams which the US Army Corps of Engineers constructed to control flooding along the Allegheny River basin.
Erected by Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.
Location. 40° 40.433′ N, 79° 27.517′ W. Marker is near Brick Church, Pennsylvania, in Armstrong County. Marker is
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on Garretts Run Rd. (Pennsylvania Route SR 2025) 2 miles south of Brick Church Rd. (Pennsylvania Route 2005), on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Ford City PA 16226, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Mike Wintermantel, November 30, 2014
2. Cochran Mills Bridge Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on June 1, 2014. This page has been viewed 1,047 times since then and 202 times this year. Photos:1. submitted on June 1, 2014. 2. submitted on November 30, 2014, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
