Henry V. Darlington, an Episcopal minister in Delaware and nearby Belvidere offered to buy the second-hand bridge for $5,000 (1914 USD, equal to $152,093 today).

Darlington converted it into a highway bridge, using two fired members of the nearby Meyer's Ferry to be toll collectors.

The structure lasted a short time, until DL&W replaced the wooden crossing for a new 740 feet (230 m) long iron bridge.

Darlington, a local Episcopal minister, put up an offer of $5,000 (1902 USD) for the bridge, DL&W immediately took the money.

He also figured that the bridge would make a good approach for drivers coming to visit the local natural attractions, such as the Delaware Water Gap and the Pocono Mountains.

Darlington created new roadway approaches (Lackawanna Road and Ferry Lane) to the bridge and even two buildings on the New Jersey side of the span.

Drivers heading along the local roads (later designated as State Highway Route 5[2]), often came to Darlington's Bridge first.

The McCrackens collected tolls in large bushel baskets, which were often filled to the brim of quarters and half-dollars.

Locals said that the McCrackens were sometimes spotted dropping these coins off the bridge and into the river below, although swimmers were never able to find anything of value to support the myth.

[1] In the time of the bridge prospering, Reverend Darlington was wed to Dorothy Stone Smith at the Trinity Chapel in Newark.