About
Jacks Mountain Covered Bridge, officially the G. Donald McLaughlin Memorial Covered Bridge, carries Jacks Mountain Road over Tom's Creek southwest of Fairfield, near Iron Springs in Hamiltonban Township, Adams County. It is a 75 foot Burr truss bridge built in 1890 and is the only one of Adams County's four historic covered bridges still open to traffic.
History
Wikipedia gives 1890 as the build date and names Joseph Smith as the architect; Dale J. Travis lists the date as 1892. The bridge 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 thematic resource. Travis places it in Carroll Valley Township rather than Hamiltonban Township.
Design
A Burr truss pairs a long timber arch with a multiple kingpost truss. Wikipedia notes the bridge's narrow horizontal siding and tin covered gable roof.
Visiting
The bridge is on Jacks Mountain Road just off Route 116 near Fairfield, southwest of Gettysburg. Vehicles can drive through it, and Uncovering PA notes room to pull off on the south side of the bridge.
Sources: Jacks Mountain Covered Bridge, Wikipedia, Covered Bridges of Adams County, Uncovering PA, Pennsylvania covered bridge list, Dale J. Travis
Photo: Smallbones, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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