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As many as 15,000 covered bridges were built in North America over the past 200 years. Fewer than 1,000 remain. In America's Covered Bridges, authors Terry E. Miller and Ronald G. Knapp tell the fascinating story of these bridges, how they were built, the technological breakthroughs required to construct them and above all the dedication and skill of their builders. Each wooden bridge, whether still standing or long gone, has a story to tell about the nature of America at the time--not only about its transportational needs, but the availability of materials and the technological prowess of the people who built it. Illustrated with some 550 historical and contemporary photos, paintings, and technical drawings of nearly 400 different covered bridges, America's Covered Bridges offers five readable chapters on the history, design and fate of America's covered bridges, plus related bridges in Canada. Most of the contemporary photography is by master photographer A. Chester Ong of Hong Kong. 55 photo essays on the most iconic bridges including: Cornish-Windsor Bridge between Vermont and New Hampshire Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Maine East Paden and West Paden (Twin Bridges), Pennsylvania Philippi Bridge, West Virginia Hortons Mill Bridge, Alabama Medora Bridge, Indiana Rock Mill Bridge, Ohio Knight's Ferry Bridge, California Perrault Bridge, Quebec, Canada Hartland Bridge, New Brunswick, Canada Over time, wooden bridges eventually gave way to ones made of iron, steel and concrete. An American icon, many covered bridges became obsolete and were replaced—others simply decayed and collapsed. Many more were swept away by natural disasters and fires. America's Covered Bridges is absolutely packed with fascinating stories and information passionately told by two leading experts on this subject. The book will be of tremendous interest to anyone interested in American history, carpentry and technological change.
Among the featured bridges are two of the longest covered bridges left in the United States, the Medora and Williams bridges; Kentucky's Bennett Mill Bridge, the only surviving Wheeler truss bridge; and the Stark Bridge in New Hampshire, which provides one of the most picturesque scenes in America.
Few symbols of America's transportation past are as popular or evoke as much nostalgia as covered bridges. While several regional histories and guidebooks exist, no general history of the subject in America has been written in the past 20 years. This engaging historical chronology of covered bridges past and present and located across the United States celebrates a quickly vanishing touchstone of rural Americana. The author explains the origin of covered bridges beginning in 1805 before continuing through the "classic era" (1830-1920) and the structure's gradual downfall from 1950 to 1980. Along the way, readers learn of architectural styles and structural types, and discussions of their cultural significance in rural communities. The text is accompanied by color photography of centuries-old structures called from the author's 35-year-old collection, as well as by photos from state and regional archives.
This book invites the reader to step back in time and imagine the days when ancestors traveled through wooden spans to reach their daily destinations. Starting in the early 1800s, Pennsylvania's rich forests provided natural material for the construction of more than 1,500 covered bridges across the state. The first covered bridge was built in 1805. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges looks at the earliest covered bridges as well as those that have survived modern progress. Images also show rare railroad covered bridges that have been saved from destruction over the years.
A complete guide to more than 200 covered bridges in the six New England states.
Covered Bridges are historic pieces of American and Canadian rural history, gracing the countryside from Oregon to Tennessee and from California to New Brunswick and across Canada. In this lavishly illustrated volume Joseph D. Conwill recounts the rich, romantic history of covered bridges as they developed from early timber bridges, born out of the traditions of Medieval times, into modernized structures designed for the motorized traffic of the early twentieth century. Reflecting on the efforts to keep covered bridges in service as the face of the rural landscape is transformed, and the challenge of preserving their historic character while making them safe for modern traffic, Conwill guides the reader across the diverse range of covered bridges to be found throughout the North America.
Kentucky is well recognized for bourbon, bluegrass, and the Kentucky Derby. When thinking of covered bridges, the commonwealth is not the state that readily comes to mind. Many of Kentucky's covered bridges were built by such men as Wernwag, Bower, Carothers, Day, Stone, and Long, but many of the names were never recorded or have been lost to time. Kentucky once was home to the longest single-span wooden bridge in the world and to a covered bridge through which a Civil War battle was fought. Time, arson, progress, neglect, and misguided maintenance have spelled the demise of the majority of these structures. Readers of this volume might be surprised to learn that Kentucky once claimed more than 700 timbered tunnels and that over 50 of these survived well into the 1950s. Equally surprising, the commonwealth is still home to 13 of these structures.
Once, covered bridges were appreciated as shelter, when horse and carriage made travel. Today, those bridges have themselves become travel destinations, as quintessential images of the American countryside, and as treasured artifacts of a simpler time. Built to serve local needs and to withstand the elements, each covered bridge has its own unique character. Gentle yet commanding presences in the American landscape, covered bridges are national treasures that continue to fascinate us. With spirited prose and 94 full-color photographs this volume celebrates the romance and lore of these rural landmarks.
The result is a revised and expanded second edition, filled to the brim with color photographs and additional information about each of the 221 remaining covered bridges in the state."--BOOK JACKET.