About
Kauffman's Distillery Covered Bridge, also called the Sporting Hill Bridge, carries Sun Hill Road over Chiques Creek southwest of Manheim, on the line between Penn and Rapho townships. It sits about 0.15 miles southeast of PA Route 772 and 1.4 miles west of PA Route 72. It is a single span 96 ft long, first built in 1857, and is officially named Big Chiques #1 Bridge. It is open to one lane of traffic.
History
James C. Carpenter built the first bridge in 1857 for $1,185. Elias McMellen rebuilt it in 1874 for $1,620, and some sources give 1874 as its build date. It is named for the Kauffman's Distillery mill, which operated in the late 1800s; the county guide notes the mill was one of 130 distilleries in Lancaster County at the time. Chiques Creek was called Chickies Creek until 2002. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 11, 1980. Lancaster County owns and maintains it.
Design
The bridge has double Burr arch trusses, timber arches paired with multiple kingpost trusses, with steel hanger rods added. The deck is oak plank. It is painted red inside and out, and both approaches are white.
Visiting
The bridge is on Sun Hill Road, about a quarter mile off Route 772. Uncovering PA (updated September 2026) reports it is still open to vehicles, one at a time.
Sources: Wikipedia: Kauffman's Distillery Covered Bridge, Uncovering PA: Covered Bridges of Lancaster County, Lancaster County Covered Bridges guide (2021)
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