[4] In 1764, the colonial highway, west of what is now Lambertville on the Delaware River and east of Elizabethtown Point on Newark Bay, was christened Old York Road.

It was built shortly after the King's Highway and called a variety of names, but it was most prominently known as the Upper Road when the Assunpink Trail was widened.

The bridge, supposedly made from locally quarried rough-hewn masonry and stone,[citation needed] is a classic, three-arch edifice.

Only a sign, often hidden behind weeds, wild bushes and large trucks or trailers that park alongside it, identifies what lies beneath.

[3] As early as the late 17th century, starting in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, a highway known as Old York Road began from Philadelphia to New Hope on the Delaware River across from one of the major ferries to New Jersey.

[17] The highway was conceived by a petition to Governor Charles Gookin and his council in 1691 by the Cheltenham settlers that asked for a road to be built between the Delaware River and Philadelphia, which resulted in a 1711 survey.

The Old Stone Arch Bridge was built to allow hunters, farmers, tradesmen and all other travelers between northwest New Jersey and west of it to cross the Green Brook.

It was impossible to cross the brook without taking an extremely long and time-consuming northern bypass, and particularly became a problem because of the emergence of the ports of New Brunswick and Raritan Landing across from each other on the river.

The bridge remained significant for approximately 140 years prior to its burial until the early 1870s, when it was superseded as the premiere land route across the Green Brook by newly constructed railroads.

[25] Its approximate date of construction remained uncertain, but recently discovered state records validated its approximate building date, with the provincial legislature authorizing the construction of a bridge within the area in 1727 and 1728: "There shall be a Bridge built over the Bound-Brook, in the most commodious place on the North-East-Side of the Road, as it now lies from Piscataway, in the County of Middlesex, up Raritan River".

[26] Construction of this bridge reportedly had not begun by 1730 when the legislature passed a supplementary act to clarify the intent of the earlier law regarding the Bound Brook bridge:Whereas the Bridge to be built over Bound Brook... has hitherto met with Obstructions, arising from Mistakes concerning the Meaning and Intention of the said [1727/28] Act: ... That as soon as conveniently may be after the Publication of this Act, there shall be a Bridge built over the Bound Brook, on the most commodious Place on the North East Side of the Road now used, as it lies from Piscataway, in the County of Middlesex, up Raritan River, which Road, as the same is now [utilised], shall be deemed and taken for the Road or High-way and good and sufficient Causeways laid... one Third Part at the Expence [sic] of the County of Middlesex...The other two Third Parts thereof at the Expence [sic] of the County of Somerset.

[27] Hunter Research was commissioned by the Army Corps of Engineers, which has been analyzing the problem and has attempted to resolve the borough's catastrophic historic flooding disasters, to write a brochure entitled "Saving Bound Brook.

It also theorized that a larger, stronger structure was needed since a trolley service operated by the Brunswick Traction Company began on this route around the same time.

In 1777 a force of British soldiers marched in the darkness during the middle of the night from New Brunswick and surprised the smaller contingent of American troops and ragtag militia members in the Battle of Bound Brook.

A British soldier's diary stated that they were held at bay due to "murderous fire" from their enemies who were positioned in a garrison near the bridge.

The combined plans call for an ambitious greenway and park along the entirety of the northern banks of the river within the county and the Borough of Bound Brook Bridge will have its historic riverfront restored; this would require rerouting the southern railroad line and removing the embankment that has been a barrier between the riverfront and downtown Bound Brook for over 140 years.