About
Packsaddle Covered Bridge, also called the Doc Miller Bridge, crosses Brush Creek on Pack Saddle Road in Fairhope Township, Somerset County, southwest of Glen Savage. It is a kingpost truss 48 ft long, the shortest of Somerset County's covered bridges. It still carries vehicle traffic.
History
The National Register record dates the bridge to 1870, although the text of the Wikipedia article gives 1877. The builder is not recorded. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 10, 1980, as part of the Covered Bridges of Somerset County group nomination. Dalejtravis.com lists restorations in 1997 and 2020.
Design
A kingpost truss is the simplest covered bridge truss: a single vertical post at the center of each side, braced by two diagonals that run down to the ends of the span. Packsaddle has full-height vertical plank siding and sits on large cut stone abutments.
Visiting
The bridge is in rural eastern Somerset County, roughly halfway between US 219 and US 220, with PA 96 the closest major road. Dalejtravis.com routes visitors from PA 160 south of Berlin by way of Glencoe Road, SR 2017 and Pine Valley Road, then west on Pack Saddle Road about 0.1 mile to the bridge. There is a pull-off with room for several cars just before the bridge.
Sources: Packsaddle Bridge (Wikipedia), Covered Bridges of Somerset County (Uncovering PA), Pack Saddle or Doc Miller 38-56-02 (dalejtravis.com)
Photo: CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (author details on the file page).
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