It has been said that the railroad ties (sleepers) and iron rails were taken up on the 1864 Arch Bridge grade in the early 1960's. About a hundred years before, the six Lafayette coal mines were producing and delivering over 150 tons of coal on the fully equipped, first-class Erie Railroad to Carrollton, NY and on to Dunkirk, Buffalo, and Rochester, NY, daily.

The 1864 Arch Bridge right of way dirt grade did not see any more men of action, but an occasional oil producer, until the early years of the 1980's. The J.D.Northrup Construction, Inc. Company of Ellicotville, NY was given the contract to construct a sewer line through Lafayette Township up the grade to the FCI prison.

Mr. Tom Reed, General Manager of J.D. Northrup, told me that in the contract the construction crew had only a 24-hour window to complete the construction at the 1864 Arch Bridge. It was because of the bear population in the area that used the Orange Creek and the passageway through the 1864 Arch Bridge. He also remembers “walking through the archway and being amazed by the engineering and craftsmanship”.

Today, J.D. Northrup Construction, Inc. is known for their engineering and craftsmanship. They build beautiful stone arch bridges.