List of Lancaster County covered bridges

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The following is a list of covered bridges in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania USA. Covered bridges in Lancaster County are important as a tourist attraction or for their historical significance. Being in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, it is not uncommon to see Amish horse and buggies crossing the bridges. They are often visited in the form of covered bridge driving tours.^[1] Parke County, Indiana has the most covered bridges of any county in the United States with 31 covered bridges^[2] while Lancaster County has only 29. Except for three of the existing covered bridges, all are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Most have been on the list since 1980.^[3] The WGCB numbering prefix for the county is 38-36^[4]

In the early to late 1800s there were approximately 1,500 covered bridges in the state of Pennsylvania. That number has decreased to just over 200 bridges, with more located in Lancaster County than any other county in the state.^[5] The remaining covered bridges in the county are a remnant of a time where most bridges in the United States were made from wood, since wood was relatively inexpensive and easy to acquire. Bridge making, however, was anything but easy and required significant cost, effort, and time. The cost of the building the bridges was covered by government funds or by private individuals building bridges across their land. Since the bridges were built from wood, they were covered to provide protection from the weather, dramatically extending the life of the bridges. Nevertheless, as floods and fires destroyed more bridges, they were eventually replaced or bypassed with more durable and longer-lasting reinforced concrete and steel beam bridges.^[6] Most of the existing bridges are owned by the county government which is responsible for periodic upkeep and maintenance^[7].

Throughout the years, many of the existing covered bridges have been destroyed, but were later reconstructed. For example, in 1972 a number of the county's covered bridges were either destroyed or badly damaged as a result of flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes. Notably, the Zook's Mill Covered Bridge managed to survive despite being filled with a few feet of water. The Willow Hill Covered Bridge, a relatively new bridge built in 1962, is a reconstructed bridge using materials recovered from the old Miller's Farm and Good's Fording covered bridges.

The covered bridges in Lancaster County are all built of similar construction and appearance. Some of this is due to the fact that many of the existing bridges were built by the same man, Elias McMellen, who built 12 of the existing bridges. The most common construction method used was that of the Burr arch truss. It is found in its single and double span forms in almost all of the covered bridges in the county, except for the Landis Mill Covered Bridge, a multiple kingpost design. Somewhat ironically, this short bridge was built by McMellen who used the Burr arch truss design in every other bridge he built. The Pine Grove Covered Bridge and Herr's Mill Covered Bridge are the county's only double span covered bridges. While most of the bridges are situated in remote locations where there is limited traffic, a number of the bridges, such as Jackson's Sawmill Covered Bridge, were later reinforced with steel beams underneath the bridge floor and steel hanger rods on the sides to support heavier traffic or give the bridge additional support.

Historically, the Lancaster County covered bridges were painted with red sides and all-white portals.^[6] Today most of the bridges retain this pattern, however, some of the portals are painted red with white trim (such as on the Zook's Mill Covered Bridge) or all-red (such as on the Pool Forge Covered Bridge). A number of these bridges also have the side panels painted red on the inside of the bridge while leaving the trusses unpainted. The Keller's Mill Covered Bridge is painted all-white, the only one of its kind in the county. Three of the bridges, Buck Hill Covered Bridge, Schenck's Mill Covered Bridge, and Shearer's Covered Bridge, have horizontal side boards. The rest of the bridges have vertical side boards.

The traditional colors of a Lancaster County covered bridge: red sides and white portals

An example of the Burr arch truss design used in most of Lancaster County's covered bridges

The underside of the Jackson's Sawmill Covered Bridge showing the reinforced steel bracing

A Burr arch truss reinforced with steel hanger rods

[edit] Existing bridges^[8][9]

Bridge	WGCB Code	Truss Type	Length	Original Builder	Year	Location	Image
Baumgardener's Covered Bridge	38-36-25	Burr arch truss	120 ft (37 m)	Davis Kitch	1860
Bitzer's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-04	Burr arch truss	98 ft (30 m)	George Fink and Sam Reamsnyder	1846
Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-12	Burr arch truss	64 ft (20 m)	Elias McMellen	1881
Buck Hill Covered Bridge	38-36-15	Burr arch truss	58 ft (18 m)	Unknown	1825
Colemanville Covered Bridge	38-36-26	Burr arch truss	170 ft (52 m)	James C. Carpenter	1856
Erb's Covered Bridge	38-36-34	Burr arch truss	80 ft (24 m)	Unknown	1849
Forry's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-28	Burr arch truss	103 ft (31 m)	Elias McMellen	1869
Herr's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-21	Burr arch truss	178 ft (54 m)	Joseph Elliot and Robert Russell	1844
Hunsecker's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-06	Burr arch truss	180 ft (55 m)	John Russell	1843
Jackson's Sawmill Covered Bridge	38-36-33	Burr arch truss	143 ft (44 m)	John Smith and Samuel Stauffer	1878
Kauffman's Distillery Covered Bridge	38-36-32	Burr arch truss	96 ft (29 m)	James C. Carpenter	1857
Keller's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-13	Burr arch truss	74 ft (23 m)	Elias McMellen	1873
Kurtz's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-03	Burr arch truss	90 ft (27 m)	W. W. Upp	1876
Landis Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-16	Multiple kingpost	53 ft (16 m)	Elias McMellen	1873
Leaman's Place Covered Bridge	38-36-20	Burr arch truss	113 ft (34 m)	James C. Carpenter	1845
Lime Valley Covered Bridge	38-36-23	Burr arch truss	103 ft (31 m)	Joseph Cramer or Elias McMellen	1871
Mercer's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-38	Burr arch truss	87 ft (27 m)	B. J. Carter	1880
Neff's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-22	Burr arch truss	102 ft (31 m)	Christian Brackbill	1824
Pine Grove Covered Bridge	38-36-41	Burr arch truss	204 ft (62 m)	Elias McMellen	1884
Pinetown Bushong's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-05	Burr arch truss	133 ft (41 m)	Elias McMellen	1867
Pool Forge Covered Bridge	38-36-01	Burr arch truss	99 ft (30 m)	Levi Fink and Elias McMellen	1859
Red Run Covered Bridge	38-36-10	Burr arch truss	107 ft (33 m)	Elias McMellen	1866
Schenck's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-30	Burr arch truss	96 ft (29 m)	Charles Malhorn and Levi Fink	1855
Shearer's Covered Bridge	38-36-31	Burr arch truss	86 ft (26 m)	Jacob Clare	1847
Siegrist's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-37	Burr arch truss	102 ft (31 m)	James C. Carpenter	1885
Weaver's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-02	Burr arch truss	85 ft (26 m)	B. J. Carter and J. F. Stauffer	1878
White Rock Forge Covered Bridge	38-36-18	Burr arch truss	110 ft (34 m)	John Russell and Elias McMellen	1847
Willow Hill Covered Bridge	38-36-43	Burr arch truss	93 ft (28 m)	Roy Zimmerman	1962
Zook's Mill Covered Bridge	38-36-14	Burr arch truss	89 ft (27 m)	Henry Zook	1849

Note: Mercer's Mill Covered Bridge and Pine Grove Covered Bridge are located on the border between Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Chester County, Pennsylvania.

[edit] Old bridges

• Bellbank Covered Bridge* (burnt in 1979)
• Daniel Good's Fording Covered Bridge (Used to make Willow Hill Covered Bridge in 1962)
• Miller's Farm Covered Bridge (Used to make Willow Hill Covered Bridge in 1962)
• Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge** - Created in the 1820s, burnt during the American civil war in July 1863. It was the longest covered bridge in the world (over a mile and a quarter in length).^[5]
• Risser's Mill Covered Bridge (burnt on July 8, 2002)

*Bridge was on the border between Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Chester County, Pennsylvania.
**Bridge was on the border between Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and York County, Pennsylvania.

[edit] References