Historic Covered Bridges In New York State

New York State is home to one of the longest single span covered bridges in the world. This is the old Blenheim Bridge over the Schoharie Creek at North Blenheim built in 1855 (located 23 miles from Cobleskill, NY). There are many other covered bridges in New York State and all are on the National Historic Register.

The earliest known covered bridge built was in 1825 and the last to be built was in 1912. Timber and stone were abundant in New York State and were great inexpensive materials for the use in building the covered bridges. Actually the first wooden bridges were not covered and had a short lifespan due to weathering. It was found that covering the wooden bridges increased their lifespan from about 9 years to more than 80 years.

Due to the iron manufacturers increased acitivity with the Civil War era, the iron manufacturers started producing metal bridge pieces to keep active. The covered bridges were then being built with metal trusses. The railroad companies and local governments liked the increased strength.

A group formed in 1966, with a goal of preserving historic covered bridges in New York State. The name of this group is the New York State Covered Bridge Society (NYSCBS). ...more>>