About
Plants Covered Bridge carries Sky View Road over the Templeton Fork of Wheeling Creek in East Finley Township, west of the village of East Finley. Washington County owns and maintains the bridge, and it is open to vehicular traffic. Its World Guide number is 38-63-26. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, added June 22, 1979.
History
The exact year of construction is unknown. Coveredbridges.net estimates that it was built after 1880 and suggests the builder was Leonard Plants, a carpenter who came home after his father died in 1880 and improved the family farm. Dale Travis's survey dates the bridge to 1876 and notes a restoration in 1976.
Design
The bridge is a kingpost truss resting on stone and mortar abutments, with no other reinforcement beneath the deck. Published lengths differ: coveredbridges.net describes it as 24 feet 6 inches long, with a largest span of 24.9 feet, while its specification table gives 39 feet overall and Dale Travis lists 34 feet. It has vertical plank siding painted barn red inside and out, a tin covered gable roof, a crosswise plank deck and two rectangular windows on each side.
Visiting
The bridge sits in an isolated, forested valley reached by several miles of dirt roads. Dale Travis gives these directions: from PA 231 in East Finley, follow SR 3035 west 1.25 miles, turn west on Fairmont Church Road for 0.15 miles, then go west on Sky View Road 1.0 mile to the bridge. Uncovering PA notes parking across from the bridge on Templeton Run Road.
Sources: Plants Covered Bridge, coveredbridges.net, Plants, Dale J. Travis Covered Bridge Photos, Visiting the Covered Bridges of Washington County, PA, Uncovering PA
Photo: Nyttend, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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