Covered bridge enthusiasts know Ashtabula County in northeast Ohio for one of the largest concentrations of covered bridges in the state, if not the nation.
This week, I'm continuing my tour of the county's vintage and new covered bridges with photos and stories of four more spans.
Root Road Bridge
The 114-foot-long Root Road Bridge crosses the west branch of the Ashtabula River and, like many of the covered bridges I saw in Ashtabula County, features the classic Town lattice design. The bridge, originally built in 1868, underwent renovation in 1982/83 to raise the span 18 inches and add a concrete support pier in the center.
The bridge and road may take its name from an area family (Dwight and Gertrude Root) whose son (Herbert) married the daughter (Frances) of John H. Whitlam, one of the first road superintendents in Ashtabula County.
Middle Road Bridge
The 136-foot-long Middle Road Bridge is another vintage span with an 1868 construction date. It crosses Conneaut Creek and features the relatively rare Howe truss. The Howe truss, patented in 1840 by millwright William Howe, has vertical members and diagonals sloping upwards toward the center of the bridge (the opposite of the Pratt truss system in other Ashtabula spans like the Smolen-Gulf and Caine Road Bridges). Volunteers and area college students helped renovate and reconstruct this bridge in 1984.
State Road Bridge
The State Road Bridge is the first bridge designed and built by former Ashtabula County Engineer John Smolen in 1983. The dedication of this bridge evolved into the county's Covered Bridge Festival, which happens each October.
This 152-foot-long bridge spans Conneaut Creek. A four-foot high window running the length of the bridge showcases the bridge's now-familiar Town lattice system.
It took 97,000 feet of southern pine and oak to construct this span, which replaced a steel bridge dating from 1898. This covered bridge is actually the second such span at this location, as the 1898 steel bridge replaced a covered bridge reportedly built in 1831 by Ira Benton and David Niles for a cost of $100.
Creek Road Bridge
No one seems to know the construction date for the Creek Road Bridge, although the county renovated it extensively in 1994. The 125-foot-long Town lattice-style bridge spans Conneaut Creek.
Note: There is some disagreement among sources for some bridge lengths and/or constructions dates. In those cases, I went with the lengths and dates from the covered bridge festival site.
Check out my earlier stories in this series:
Covered Bridges of Ashtabula County, Part One-an introduction to the county's bridges and the story of the nation's longest covered bridge
Covered Bridges of Ashtabula County, Part Two-the first four stops along the county's suggested driving tour of its covered bridges
Want to learn more about Ohio's covered bridges? Check out The Covered Bridges of Ohio: A Photo Guide-A Portfolio by Jack R. Perry. This book includes photos, as well as a lot of great information about Ohio's covered bridges. Perry also answers a lot of questions about covered bridge construction and gives readers a few tips for planning their own Ohio covered bridge road trip.
I always find the Delorme Gazetteers invaluable when it comes to planning my Midwest road trips. Plan your next Ohio road trip with the help of Delorme's Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer.
© Dominique King 2010 All rights reserved
Beautiful! We recently visited some covered bridges in Madison County, Iowa. We've also enjoyed exploring Parke County, Indiana.
Posted by: Linda | September 23, 2010 at 07:02 AM
Lovely! I am a major fan of covered bridges. They sound so wonderful when you're on a carriage inside, too!
Posted by: Cindy L | September 23, 2010 at 01:17 PM
Linda-We took this trip out to Ashtabula specifically to photograph the covered bridges there. So many, so different...and it's interesting that a good number of the covered bridges in the county are newer construction.
Cindy-Sounds like you need to go to Ashtabula County :)
It is nice having so many covered bridges in a relatively small area. The tour route past all 17 bridges is about 130 miles total, so it's possible to see all or most of them in one day. We took a little longer as we wanted to get out at each one to take at least a few photos, though.
Posted by: Dominique King | September 23, 2010 at 08:38 PM