History :

Elk Township was formed in 1857 from 10.4 square miles that were formerly part of East Nottingham. Besides being the smallest township georgraphically in the area, it also is the least populated. As part of the historical "Nottingham Lots," its settlement dates to a grant from William Penn in 1701. In 1763 Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon began a survey for the Royal Society to establish the boundaries of the lands of the Penn family and those of the Calverts. The survey, which deliniated the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the southern boundry of Elk Township, was completed in 1769. It is not surprising that this township is dotted with mills, since it is bordered on the east by the Big Elk Creek, with branches of the Little Elk Creek winding through the area. A part of the Serpentine Barrens is also included in the township, and gives its name to the Barren branch of the Little Elk Creek and Barren Road.

The township boasts three covered bridges: the Linton Stevens, named for a postmaster at Lewsiville; The Rudolph and Arthur, an 80-foot bridge built in 1880 by Richard T. Meredith and named for a mill along the stream; and the Glen Hope Bridge, which crosses the Elk Creek just north of the Maryland border. "Between 1850 and 1909 a large dam above the bridge site supplied power for a paper mill. Three generations of the Rudolph family were active in the paper mill operations. When the bridge was built in 1880, Charles Arthur was a member of the paper firm that operated under the name of Rudolph and Arthur," writes Arthur E. James, author of Covered Bridges of Chester County. The Glen Hope Bridge is 65-feet in length and was built in 1889 by Menander Wood and George E. Jones with a Burr-like arch truss. The bridge was burned by vandals in the late 1980s and was restored by 1994. The Linton Stevens Bridge, which is the northernmost in the township, bordering on New London Township. This bridge was built in 1886, also with a Burr truss, by J. Denithorne and Son. It is 102-feet in length, and while a car may cross it, the road beyond is open to vehicles with permits only.