National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges

America’s Oldest Covered Bridge Turns 200

October 7, 2025 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

This year’s 200th anniversary of the Hyde Hall covered bridge in Glimmerglass State Park near Cooperstown in Otsego County, NY, the oldest covered bridge still standing in America, is being celebrated on October 11, 2025. It’s all traceable to George Clarke (1768-1835).

Clarke, whose family property empire included tens of thousands of acres in New York, England, and Jamaica, bought land in Cooperstown in 1817. It was on and above Otsego Lake, eight miles north of Cooperstown and with a commanding, majestic view of the lake and the surrounding countryside. [Read more…] about America’s Oldest Covered Bridge Turns 200

The Early Timber Bridge Over Schoharie Creek at Esperance

February 18, 2025 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Although there are gaps in the available historical record concerning Theodore Burr’s 1800 bridge spanning Schoharie Creek at Esperance, there are enough tantalizing facts to encourage continuing research for documents, including drawings. [Read more…] about The Early Timber Bridge Over Schoharie Creek at Esperance

An Early Truss Bridge Constructed at Oxford, NY in 1800

February 4, 2025 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

When Theodore Burr traveled in 1792-1793 from Litchfield, Connecticut, to Oxford in Chenango County, NY — a distance of some 200 miles — with his carpenter friend Jonathan Baldwin from neighboring Massachusetts, Burr considered himself a carpenter/millwright/housewright like his father.

As a carpenter, he had experience creating structures that would span broad open spaces using some form of a roof truss, that is, a triangular frame comprising level beams and oblique timbers jointed together. There is no record that either he, his father, or friend had ever erected a bridge before arriving in New York State. [Read more…] about An Early Truss Bridge Constructed at Oxford, NY in 1800

The Great Cayuga Lake Long Bridge: Beams & Trestles

January 27, 2025 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Into the waning decade of the 1700s, only fords, ferries, or makeshift timber bridges, all highly vulnerable to frequent destruction by ice and flood, were used to cross streams. As Americans in greater numbers began moving west to more remote parts of New York and Pennsylvania, carpenters and entrepreneurial inventors began envisioning new designs but still using posts, beams, and trestle bents for crossing narrow and slow-moving streams in order to expedite the movement of people and goods as well as to make a profit. None of these earliest timber bridges were covered with a roof and siding.

These early timber bridges were precursor structures to the arches and trusses that soon followed, making it possible to span broader streams with stronger structures, many of which heralded the arrival of the covered timber bridge era. [Read more…] about The Great Cayuga Lake Long Bridge: Beams & Trestles

Neversink & Delaware River Covered Bridges: Some History & Design Notes

June 6, 2024 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

New York’s first known covered bridge was built in 1807. It crossed the Neversink River in the hamlet of Bridgeville located southeast of Monticello in the Sullivan County town of Thompson.

The Bridgeville Bridge was an important link in the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike, a toll road running from the Hudson River to the Delaware River that was incorporated by a legislative act on February 28, 1806 that was to include a “a good and sufficient bridge across the Neversink-river.” [Read more…] about Neversink & Delaware River Covered Bridges: Some History & Design Notes

The 1804 Waterford Union Bridge: Correcting The Record

May 2, 2024 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Do photographs lie? Theodore Burr is credited with erecting the first timber bridge spanning the Hudson River in 1804. After the crossing dropped into the river after a fire in 1909 — more than a century later — the timber superstructure was exposed and then photographed. The oft-repeated commentary since has been that the structure was what Burr originally erected in 1804.

‘Tis a mystery, a fallacy, in many ways that can be refuted. [Read more…] about The 1804 Waterford Union Bridge: Correcting The Record

Canajoharie’s First Bridges Over The Mohawk River

March 31, 2024 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Theodore Burr’s first bridge across the Mohawk River was at Canajoharie, a New York village in Montgomery County that is little known today outside the region. Erected in 1803, this was clearly an experimental structure that differed from the common level bridges he had earlier built at Oxford (Chenango County) in 1800 and Catskill (Greene County) in 1802. [Read more…] about Canajoharie’s First Bridges Over The Mohawk River

Theodore Burr’s Mohawk River Bridge Between Schenectady and Scotia

March 2, 2024 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

When Theodore Burr’s first attempt to bridge the Mohawk River between Schenectady and Scotia came crashing down February 13, 1805, most would have assumed his reputation was tarnished. However, without trained bridge engineers, early builders like Burr had to be forgiven as they invented their own experimental solutions for the rivers to be spanned. [Read more…] about Theodore Burr’s Mohawk River Bridge Between Schenectady and Scotia

The Schoharie Creek Bridges at Esperance, NY

February 1, 2024 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

With the conclusion of the War of Independence in 1783, the former colonies, now states, could not move forward commercially or expand westward without new infrastructure, in particular roads and bridges.

Following authorization by state legislatures, these, however, were left to local government and private enterprise to build. [Read more…] about The Schoharie Creek Bridges at Esperance, NY

Covered Bridge Preservation: A Primer

December 12, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Of the more than fourteen thousand covered bridges which once dotted the North American landscape, less than eight hundred remain in the United States. About 2/3 of them are historic bridges and the others are modern truss-supported structures.

At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, iron, steel and concrete bridges began replacing wooden covered spans. [Read more…] about Covered Bridge Preservation: A Primer

Covered Bridge Truss Designs: A Primer

December 9, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

One of the approaches to categorizing covered bridges is by the type of truss supporting them. Some designs saw extensive use over a large geographical area while others are limited to a specific region. To keep it simple, this essay will contain a brief description of the design. [Read more…] about Covered Bridge Truss Designs: A Primer

Covered Bridges: Common Questions Answered

December 3, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Many reasons are offered for covering bridges such as providing shelter during inclement weather or so horses wouldn’t be afraid to cross the water. However, the true reason is much more practical – to protect the structure supporting the bridge. Without protection from the weather, the wooden timbers supporting the bridge would decay more rapidly and eventually collapse. [Read more…] about Covered Bridges: Common Questions Answered

Covered Bridges: An Introduction

November 29, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Covered bridges are known to have existed in China for over 2,000 years according to archaeological evidence. The current numbers in China are unknown, but it is believed there are over 3,000.

Chinese wooden bridges do not use truss designs like North American and European ones. Most in China are built on masonry bases of stone or brick. Many are constructed with a “woven-arch” design which has a collection of interlocking timbers to support the structure. [Read more…] about Covered Bridges: An Introduction

The Bridging of Early America: Bridge Builders and Forgotten Timber Spans

October 24, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Theodore Burr (1771-1822) was the most prominent of America’s three early nineteenth century timber bridge-building pioneers, the others being Timothy Palmer (1751-1821) and Lewis Wernwag (1769-1843). All three built long-span timber bridges in the Northeast.

A transplant from Connecticut, Theodore Burr moved to Oxford, Chenango County, New York in 1792-1793. In less than thirty years, he erected timber bridges over major rivers – the Hudson, Schoharie, Mohawk, Delaware, Potomac, and Susquehanna – in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, District of Columbia, and Maryland. [Read more…] about The Bridging of Early America: Bridge Builders and Forgotten Timber Spans

National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges

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