Tollgate Bridge was an integral part of the Big Spring Turnpike from Newville to Stoughstown which was the route for transporting products of the farms and mills along the Big Spring to market. To get their products to the railroad in Newville, the millers and farmers would have had to cross this bridge. It is estimated that 17,000 tons of goods and materials passed over this road yearly. This would have meant that an average of 55 loaded wagons went up and down the road every day.

The Tollgate Bridge was completed in August of 1872 and has remained in service since that time. When President Ulysses Grant brought his friends to Newville to fish, they would have crossed this bridge to get to their fishing spot. When the flour produced for Queen Victoria by the Manning Mill was shipped to her it was transported over this bridge to the freight station. Tollgate Bridge has been a favorite of photographers and painters since its construction.

—Brief history courtesy of the Newville Historical Society