Union Bridge

Union Bridge was originally known as Pipe Creek Settlement and was also once known as Buttersburg.

The records show that in 1735 the said Allen Farquhar, for and in consideration of his natural love and affection for his son William, and for the further consideration of his said son's filial kindness and obedience in being willing to remove from "ye" province of Pennsylvania to "ye" province of Maryland, conveyed to his William by deed, 200 acres of land. In compliance with the terms of this deed, William Farquhar and his wife, Ann, came to Maryland in 1735 and settled upon the land, and were the first permanent settlers. The settlement established by William Farquhar and his co-workers, was known as "The Pipe Creek Settlement." 

 

The Farquhars and many of the other families who were among the early settlers of the area are noted in the names of the streets in town and the graves of an enormous number of those early settlers may be found in the Pipe Creek Friends cemetery at the edge of town.

 

The town long went by the undignified name of "Buttersburg," and this name originated in a very natural way. In the beginning of this century [nineteenth], Geo. Cox, a remote descendant of King George of England, and father of Jno. R., Ephraim, William Y., James and Mary E. Cox, opened a store, and started a huckster route in the place, and from the abundance of butter, or the superior quality of it, the place was dubbed "Buttertown" or "Buttersburg."

 

Its present name came from the circumstance of building a bridge over Pipe Creek just north of the town, and a short way from it. As there were then no County Commissioners to make roads, or build bridges, the people of the neighborhood had to join together and build the bridge themselves, and when it was completed they wished to name it, and as they had unitedly constructed it, they very appropriately called it "Union" Bridge.

 

Modern day Union Bridge is perhaps best known as the home of the largest cement kiln in the country, owned and operated by the Lehigh Heidelberg Company. Towering over the town, the kiln stack is often used as a landmark for the pilots of small airplanes flying in the area.