About
Wyit Sprowls Covered Bridge stands in East Finley Township Park on Templeton Run Road, where it spans the Templeton Fork of Wheeling Creek. It is named for Wyit Sprowls, who owned the surrounding land in the 1800s. Washington County owns and maintains it. Its World Guide number is 38-63-29. It is a different bridge from Sprowls Covered Bridge on Rocky Run, which has its own National Register entry (#79002365); this bridge is entry #79002366, listed June 22, 1979.
History
Bridges and Tunnels says the bridge originally stood on Robison Run Road in West Finley Township, crossing the Robinson Fork of Wheeling Creek. The National Register list says it was relocated from West Finley Township to the East Finley Township park around 1996. Coveredbridges.net dates the move to 1998, and Bridges and Tunnels says it was moved in 2000 because of mining subsidence. Sources also disagree on its age: coveredbridges.net gives 1865, while Bridges and Tunnels gives 1915. The builder is unknown.
Design
It is a queenpost truss. Bridges and Tunnels gives a total length of 43 feet and a deck width of 11 feet 6 inches; coveredbridges.net lists 52 feet. When it was reconstructed it was given two windows per side, down from three. It has vertical plank siding painted barn red inside and out, a tin covered gable roof, crosswise deck planking and poured concrete abutments extended into short wing walls, with wooden trestle supports resting in the streambed.
Visiting
The bridge is in East Finley Township Park, on Templeton Run Road north of the village of East Finley. Coveredbridges.net describes it as open to vehicular traffic.
Sources: Wyit Sprowls Covered Bridge, coveredbridges.net, Wyit Sprowls Covered Bridge, Bridges and Tunnels, National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Pennsylvania
Photo: Nyttend, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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