Knapp's Covered Bridge

About

Knapp's Covered Bridge, also called the Luthers Mills Covered Bridge and the Brown's Creek Covered Bridge, crosses Brown's Creek in Burlington Township, Bradford County, west-northwest of Towanda. It is a 95-foot Burr arch truss bridge built in 1853 and is the only covered bridge in Bradford County. It carries Covered Bridge Road and is open to traffic.

History

The bridge was built in 1853 and is named for a local family. No builder is recorded. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1980, as part of the Covered Bridges of Bradford, Sullivan and Lycoming Counties multiple property submission. Coveredbridges.net reports that it had been closed for a long time before a major restoration, begun in 2000, reopened it to traffic.

Design

It is a Burr arch truss: a long timber arch on each side combined with a multiple kingpost truss, with the arch ends bearing on the abutments. Coveredbridges.net notes that the bridge is unpainted and that its vertical siding covers only the lower half of the sides, leaving the arches exposed. It stands about 30 feet above Brown's Creek, and coveredbridges.net describes it as the highest covered bridge in Pennsylvania.

Visiting

From US 220 just north of Towanda, take US 6 west about 5 miles, then Kendall Hill Road north 0.1 mile and Covered Bridge Road east 0.9 mile to the bridge, according to dalejtravis.com. The bridge is open to vehicles.

Sources: Knapp's Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Knapp 38-08-01 (dalejtravis.com), Knapp's Covered Bridge (coveredbridges.net)

Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.