About
The Lawrence L. Knoebel Covered Bridge crosses South Branch Roaring Creek at Knoebels Amusement Resort near Elysburg, on the line between Cleveland Township in Columbia County and Ralpho Township in Northumberland County. It is a 40 foot modified queenpost truss bridge built in 1875 and stands at the entrance to the Knoebels Grove campgrounds.
History
The bridge was first built over West Creek near Benton in Columbia County, and J. J. McHenry is named as its builder. It served there for about sixty years until a road relocation made it obsolete. In 1936 resort founder Henry Hartman Knoebel bought the bridge, dismantled it and moved it to Knoebels Grove, where his son Lawrence reassembled it over Roaring Creek; the move is dated 1935 to 1937. The Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society of Pennsylvania later renamed it for Lawrence Knoebel. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 8, 1979. The history section on coveredbridges.net gives 1881 as the original build year, while Wikipedia and the page's own title give 1875.
Design
A queenpost truss uses two vertical posts joined by a horizontal top member, a step up from the single post of a kingpost. The bridge has a wood shingled roof. A covered pedestrian walkway was added on the downstream side by extending the roof, and coveredbridges.net says the walkway dates from the 1970s and that the bridge was modified to give campers more clearance.
Visiting
The bridge is on private resort property at Knoebels Amusement Resort, at the campground entrance. The sources consulted describe the pedestrian walkway and the added clearance for campers but do not state current traffic rules.
Sources: Lawrence L. Knoebel Covered Bridge, Wikipedia, Lawrence L. Knoebel Covered Bridge, coveredbridges.net, Lawrence L. Knoebel Bridge, SAH Archipedia
Photo: Ruhrfisch, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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