About
Harmon's Covered Bridge crosses the South Branch of Plum Creek on T-488, just off Five Points Road northeast of Willet, in Washington Township, Indiana County. It is a Town lattice truss bridge built in 1910. Wikipedia, coveredbridges.net and Uncovering PA give its length as 41 ft, while the Indiana County Parks brochure gives 45 ft. The bridge was bypassed in 1984 and is open only to foot traffic.
History
The county awarded the contract to John R. Carnahan, and the bridge was completed in July 1910 at a cost of $525, to a design by county engineer Thomas Pealer. It is named for J.S. Harmon, a local farmer and Civil War veteran who survived the Andersonville prison camp. It is the youngest of Indiana County's four remaining covered bridges. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 3, 1979, as part of the Covered Bridges of Indiana County group.
Design
The Town lattice truss uses a web of crossing planks fastened with wooden pins. Harmon's and the nearby Trusal Bridge are near mirror images, with slanted entrances that give both a trapezoid outline from the side.
Visiting
The bridge stands just upstream of the Trusal Covered Bridge, about half a mile away and within sight of it. There is room to pull off alongside the road, and a historical marker at one end explains the bridge's history.
Sources: Harmon's Covered Bridge (coveredbridges.net), Covered Bridges brochure (Indiana County Parks and Trails), Harmon's Covered Bridge (Wikipedia)
Photo: MomentsByCarol, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Similar Bridges in category
Explore More
Hunsecker's Mill Covered Bridge
Manheim and Upper Leacock townships, Lancaster County. Built 1843, 180 ft over the Conestoga River. The county's longest single-span covered bridge, rebuilt in 1973 after Agnes.
Herr's Mill Covered Bridge
Elizabethtown, Lancaster County. Built 1844, a two-span 178 ft bridge over Pequea Creek. Dismantled in 2018 and moved to the private Stone Gables Estate.
Pine Grove Covered Bridge
Little Britain Township, Lancaster County. Built 1884, 198 ft over the East Branch Octoraro Creek. A two-span Burr arch, it is the county's longest covered bridge.