About
Dellville Covered Bridge crosses Shermans Creek at Dellville in Wheatfield Township, Perry County. It is a three-span Burr arch truss bridge, 174 feet long, first built in 1889. The present bridge is a replica completed in 2019, and it is open to vehicle traffic.
History
Andrew Clouser built the original bridge in 1889. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 25, 1980, as part of the Covered Bridges of Adams, Cumberland, and Perry Counties group. On November 3, 2014, fire badly damaged the bridge, and police ruled it arson. Removal of the burned remains began in 2017, reconstruction began in earnest in 2018, and the replica was completed by July 2019. In November 2019 two men were charged as juveniles for the fire.
Design
A Burr arch truss pairs a long timber arch with a multiple kingpost truss on each side of the bridge. Dellville uses three spans. The Perry County PAGenWeb survey describes the original as the longest and widest covered bridge in the county, about 20 feet wide, set high above the stream on large stone abutments.
Visiting
The bridge is on Township Road 456 (Pine Hill Road) at Dellville. Uncovering PA notes that you can drive through it and park in a small parking area on the opposite side of Shermans Creek.
Sources: Dellville Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Perry County Covered Bridges (PAGenWeb), Perry County Covered Bridges (Uncovering PA)
Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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