List of covered bridges in Columbia County, Pennsylvania

Last updated December 27, 2024

As of 2007, there are a total of 21 covered bridges in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The number of covered bridges in Columbia County is the third highest number of covered bridges in any one county in Pennsylvania, behind Washington County and Lancaster County.^[1]^[2] Columbia County is also home to one of two sets of twin covered bridges in the United States.^[1]

There is an organization known as the Columbia County Covered Bridges Association that has existed since 1991 and supports the presence of covered bridges in the county. The county commissioner of Columbia County, Chris Young, is also a supporter of Columbia County's covered bridges, stating that "When you stand on a covered bridge, you're actually going back in time".^[2] 18 of the covered bridges are open to vehicle traffic, as of 2002, and these are maintained by officials of Columbia County. The remainder of the bridges are maintained by the Columbia County Covered Bridges Association. A number of the covered bridges are attractions for local and regional tourism. They are also used for picnics and fishing.^[2]

A number of the covered bridges were damaged during Tropical Storm Lee in 2011. Three of these bridges were the Josiah Hess Covered Bridge No. 122, the Davis Covered Bridge, and the Rupert Covered Bridge No. 56. The Josiah Hess Covered Bridge No. 122 received some damage to its abutments. The Davis Covered Bridge was closed after the tropical storm. The Rupert Covered Bridge No. 56 sustained minor damage from a tree branch that went through its side.^[4]

Statistics and history

The existing covered bridges in Columbia County are spread across at least 11 townships. Out of these, four are in Fishing Creek Township, five are in Cleveland Township, two are in Greenwood Township, two are in Jackson Township, and two are in Franklin Township. The rest of the townships in Columbia County have one or zero covered bridges.^[5]

While fewer than 20 covered bridges remain in Columbia County in the 21st century, a total of 116 covered bridges have been built in the county, meaning that 97 covered bridges in the county have been destroyed. Of these, nine were destroyed in the 1800s, including one, the Berwick-Nescopeck Covered Bridge, that was destroyed in the late 1830s. Considerably more covered bridges were destroyed in the 1900s. In this century, a total of 60 covered bridges were lost. Two more covered bridges were destroyed in the 21st century. Additionally, 17 covered bridges were lost at an unknown date.^[5]

Table

Name	Date built	Length	Type	Stream crossed	Source
Creasyville Covered Bridge	1881	44.5 feet (13.6 m)	Queen post truss	Little Fishing Creek	^[1]
Davis Covered Bridge	1875	87 feet (27 m)	Burr arch truss	Roaring Creek	^[1]
Esther Furnace Covered Bridge	1881	101 feet (31 m)	Queen post	Roaring Creek	^[1]
Fowlersville Covered Bridge	1886	40 feet (12 m)	Queen post	West Branch Briar Creek (later moved)	^[1]
Hollingshead Covered Bridge No. 40	1851	116 feet (35 m)	Burr arch truss	Catawissa Creek	^[1]
Johnson Covered Bridge No. 28	1882	61 feet (19 m)	Queen truss	Mugser Run	^[1]
Josiah Hess Covered Bridge No. 122	1875	110 feet (34 m)	Burr arch truss	Huntington Creek	^[1]
Jud Christie Covered Bridge No. 95	1876	63 feet (19 m)	Queen post truss	Little Fishing Creek	^[1]
Lawrence L. Knoebel Covered Bridge	1881	41 feet (12 m)	Queen truss	West Creek (later moved)	^[1]
Kramer Covered Bridge No. 113	1881	50 feet (15 m)	Queen post	Mud Run	^[1]
Kreigbaum Covered Bridge	1876	62 feet (19 m)	Queen post	South Branch Roaring Creek	^[1]
Parr's Mill Covered Bridge No. 10	1866	84 feet (26 m)	Burr arch truss	Roaring Creek	^[1]
Patterson Covered Bridge No. 112	1875	82 feet (25 m)	Burr arch truss	Green Creek	^[1]
Richards Covered Bridge	1880	64 feet (20 m)	Modified multiple kingpost	South Branch Roaring Creek	^[1]
Rupert Covered Bridge No. 56	1847	185 feet (56 m)	Burr arch truss	Fishing Creek	^[1]
Sam Eckman Covered Bridge No. 92	1876	66 feet (20 m)	Queen post truss	Little Fishing Creek	^[1]
Shoemaker Covered Bridge	1881	49 feet (15 m)	Queen post truss	West Branch Run	^[1]
Snyder Covered Bridge No. 17	1876	60.2 feet (18.3 m)	Burr arch truss or Queen post truss	Roaring Creek	^[1]
Stillwater Covered Bridge No. 134	1849	151 feet (46 m)	Burr arch truss	Fishing Creek	^[1]
Twin Bridges-East Paden Covered Bridge No. 120	1884	112 feet (34 m) and 75 feet (23 m)	Queen post and Burr arch	Huntington Creek	^[1]
Wanich Covered Bridge No. 69	1844	98 feet (30 m)	Burr arch truss	Little Fishing Creek	^[1]

Related Research Articles

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The Siegrist's Mill Covered Bridge is an 88-foot (27 m), Burr Arch Truss covered bridge over Chiques Creek between Rapho and West Hempfield townships, Lancaster County in U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Owned and maintained by the county, its official designation is the Big Chiques #6 Bridge.

The Pinetown Bushong's Mill Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that spans the Conestoga River in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. A county-owned and maintained bridge, its official designation is the Big Conestoga #6 Bridge. The bridge is also known as Pinetown Covered Bridge, Nolte's Point Mill Bridge and Bushong's Mill Bridge.

Fishing Creek Township is a township in Columbia County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 1,416 at the 2010 census.

Montour Township is a township in Columbia County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Hurricane Agnes was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, with much of the east coast of the United States affected. Damage was heaviest in Pennsylvania, where Agnes was the state's wettest tropical cyclone. Due to the significant effects, the name Agnes was retired in the spring of 1973.

Hurricane Gordon caused minor damage in the Eastern United States. The seventh named storm and fourth hurricane of the 2000 Atlantic hurricane season, Gordon developed in the extreme western Caribbean Sea from a tropical wave on September 14. Shortly thereafter, the depression moved inland over the Yucatán Peninsula and later emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on September 15. The depression began to quickly organize, and by early on September 16, it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Gordon. After becoming a tropical storm, Gordon continued to intensify and was reclassified as a hurricane about 24 hours later; eventually, the storm peaked as an 80 mph (130 km/h) Category 1 hurricane. However, southwesterly upper-level winds caused Gordon to weaken as it approached land, and it was downgraded to a tropical storm by late on September 17. At 0300 UTC on September 18, Gordon made landfall near Cedar Key, Florida as a strong tropical storm. After moving inland, Gordon rapidly weakened and had deteriorated to tropical depression status by nine hours later. Later that day, Gordon merged with a frontal boundary while centered over Georgia.

Catawissa Creek is a 41.8-mile-long (67.3 km) tributary of the Susquehanna River in east-central Pennsylvania in the United States. Its watershed has an area of 153 square miles (400 km²).

The 1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane was among the most damaging hurricanes in the Mid-Atlantic states in the eastern United States. The sixth storm and third hurricane of the very active 1933 Atlantic hurricane season, it formed in the eastern Atlantic, where it moved west-northwestward and eventually became a Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. A strong ridge over New England allowed a continued northwest course, bringing the storm south of Bermuda and later toward the middle coast of the eastern United States. Advanced warning allowed hundreds of people to evacuate ahead of the hurricane making landfall. It did so in northeastern North Carolina on August 23 with winds of about 90 mph (140 km/h). Soon after, the eye crossed over Norfolk, Virginia, the first time that happened since 1821. The hurricane weakened into a tropical storm over northern Virginia shortly before passing near Washington, D.C., becoming the worst tropical cyclone there since 1896. Curving northward, the storm moved through Pennsylvania and New York before losing tropical characteristics on August 25. Now extratropical, the former hurricane moved across Atlantic Canada, dissipating on August 28.

The Buck Hill Covered Bridge, Eichelberger's Covered Bridge, or Abram Hess' Mill Bridge is a burr arch-truss style covered bridge located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located on the Buck Hill Farm's pond on private property.

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Fishing Creek is a 29.98-mile (48.25 km) long tributary of the Susquehanna River in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It joins the Susquehanna River near the census-designated place of Rupert and the town of Bloomsburg. The watershed has an area of 385 square miles (1,000 km²).

Huntington Creek is a tributary of Fishing Creek in Luzerne and Columbia counties, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 29.5 miles (47.5 km) long.

Little Fishing Creek is a tributary of Fishing Creek in Sullivan County, Lycoming County, and Columbia County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 23.5 miles (37.8 km) long and flows through eight townships. The watershed of the creek has an area of 68.1 square miles (176 km²). The creek has six named tributaries, of which the largest are Spruce Run and West Branch Run.

Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3 was a rubble masonry stone arch bridge over Plunketts Creek in Plunketts Creek Township, Lycoming County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It was built between 1840 and 1875, probably closer to 1840, when the road along the creek between the unincorporated villages of Barbours and Proctor was constructed. Going upstream from the mouth, the bridge was the third to cross the creek, hence its name.

Tropical Storm Lee was the thirteenth named storm and fifteenth system overall of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, developing from a broad tropical disturbance over the Gulf on September 2. It was designated as Tropical Storm Lee the next day. Prior to 2020, when Marco formed on August 22, Lee was tied with 2005's Maria as the earliest-forming 13th Atlantic tropical storm. The system was unusually large, and due to drifting, Lee brought flash flooding to the Gulf Coast. Flooding associated with the rains caused significant property damage in the areas, with drowning deaths reported in both Mississippi and Georgia. Elsewhere, the storm helped spread wildfires that destroyed homes and killed two people in Texas, and a traffic accident in Alabama resulted in one death. Rough surf offshore drowned one person in each of these states. After becoming extratropical, Lee caused historic flooding in Pennsylvania, New York, and Canada, mainly Quebec and Ontario.

The Rupert Covered Bridge No. 56 is a covered bridge in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is one of 23 covered bridges in Columbia County. The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the oldest existing covered bridge in Columbia County. The bridge is located in the community of Rupert and is open to traffic.

The Josiah Hess Covered Bridge No. 122 is a historic wooden covered bridge over Huntington Creek in Fishing Creek Township in Columbia County, Pennsylvania. It is a 105.1-foot-long (32.0 m), Burr Truss arch bridge constructed in 1875. It is one of 28 historic covered bridges in Columbia and Montour Counties.

Raven Creek is a tributary of Fishing Creek in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 8.1 miles (13.0 km) long and flows through Sugarloaf Township, Benton Township, and Fishing Creek Township. The watershed of the creek has an area of 11.90 square miles (30.8 km²). Numerous bridges, both covered and non-covered, have been built over the creek. Its main tributary is East Branch Raven Creek.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Columbia County, 2007, retrieved July 11, 2013
1 2 3 George Ingram (November 24, 2002), Covered treasures Columbia County, Pa.'s nearly two dozen covered bridges..., archived from the original on January 1, 2014, retrieved July 13, 2013
↑ Covered Bridges , retrieved July 11, 2013
↑ Video clips and news on covered bridge damage due to Hurricane Lee (PDF), October 3, 2011, archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016, retrieved July 13, 2013
1 2 http://www.lostbridges.org/report.aspx (Database. Select "Pennsylvania" for the state field and "Columbia" for the county field)

External links

Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges - For information on non-existent covered bridges

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[pacoveredbridges-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Columbia County, 2007, retrieved July 11, 2013

[covered_treasures-2] 1 2 3 George Ingram (November 24, 2002), Covered treasures Columbia County, Pa.'s nearly two dozen covered bridges..., archived from the original on January 1, 2014, retrieved July 13, 2013

[3] Covered Bridges , retrieved July 11, 2013

[4] Video clips and news on covered bridge damage due to Hurricane Lee (PDF), October 3, 2011, archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016, retrieved July 13, 2013

[lostbridges-5] 1 2 http://www.lostbridges.org/report.aspx (Database. Select "Pennsylvania" for the state field and "Columbia" for the county field)

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