Sandy Creek Covered Bridge

Sandy Creek Covered Bridge sits along Old Lemay Ferry Road a few miles north of Hillsboro, the seat of Jefferson County. It was one of six bridges the county built in 1872, as part of a post-Civil War infrastructure push meant to connect Hillsboro to St. Louis County. Jefferson County paid builder John H. Morse $2,000 to raise the Howe truss span over Sandy Creek — one of only three Howe truss covered bridges surviving in Missouri today.

The original bridge didn't last long: high water destroyed it in 1886, just fourteen years after it was built. The county turned to Henry Steffin, who rebuilt the bridge for a fraction of the original cost — $899 — salvaging half of the original timbers and reusing the existing stone abutments. That rebuilt structure, 74 feet 6 inches long, is the one still standing. It came under state protection in 1967 when Missouri's legislature moved to preserve all of the state's remaining covered bridges, and Jefferson County formally released it to the state park system the following year. A major restoration in 1984 returned the bridge to its original appearance, and it remains open to pedestrian traffic at a historic site with picnic tables and interpretive displays.