There's something about a covered bridge that makes people slow down. The wooden walls, the little roof, the hollow rumble of tires on the planks. They look like they belong on a calendar page, especially in the fall.
If you want to see a lot of them, head to Pennsylvania. The state still has just over 200 covered bridges, more than any other state, and some people call it the Covered Bridge Capital of the Nation. Back in the 1800s, Pennsylvania had roughly 1,500 of them.
Why Put a Roof on a Bridge?
Covered bridges weren't built to look pretty. The roof and walls protected the wooden frame underneath from snow and rain. An uncovered wooden bridge typically lasted only about 20 years. With a cover, a wooden bridge could last more than a century.
Wood made sense at the time because it was relatively cheap and easy to get. Building a sturdy bridge still took a great deal of money, effort, and time, so keeping it dry was well worth it.
Pennsylvania Got There First
The first documented covered bridge in the United States was the Permanent Bridge, completed in 1805 over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It was built by Timothy Palmer. The idea caught on because traditional European stone bridges weren't well suited to harsh Pennsylvania winters.
Pennsylvania also had the longest covered bridge ever built. Constructed in 1814 in Lancaster County, it stretched over a mile. Sadly, ice and flooding destroyed it in 1832.
Which surviving historic covered bridge is the longest today? That's up for debate. The Cornish–Windsor Bridge, crossing the Connecticut River between New Hampshire and Vermont, and the Medora Bridge in Indiana both lay claim to the title, depending on how the length is measured.
Across the whole country, about 14,000 covered bridges were built, mostly between 1825 and 1875. Only about 1 in 10 survived the 20th century. Many were replaced on purpose, others were neglected, and restoring them can be very expensive.
Bridges and Buggies
Within Pennsylvania, Lancaster County has more covered bridges than any other county, with 28. They sit in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, where Amish horse-drawn buggies still rattle across them. That makes them a big tourist draw, and many visitors explore them on covered bridge driving tours.
Many of Pennsylvania's bridges were named for pioneer families who lived nearby. One, the Diehls Covered Bridge, even appeared in the opening scenes of the 1980s TV horror series Tales from the Darkside. Another famous covered bridge, Iowa's Cedar Covered Bridge, starred in the 1992 novel The Bridges of Madison County.
Other Covered Bridge Hot Spots
Pennsylvania isn't the only place to find them. Parke County, Indiana, has 31, the most of any single county in the country. Ohio has more than 125 historic covered bridges, including what has been called the shortest in the United States, at just 18 feet.
Most of America's remaining covered bridges are in the East. One big exception is Oregon, which has about fifty, helped along by its many rivers and plentiful lumber. They're popular there partly because they look a lot like the covered wagons tied to Oregon's pioneer history.
So the next time you rumble across a covered bridge on a back road, take a moment to admire it. That little roof has been doing its job for generations, keeping a piece of American history dry.
