Covered Bridge, Near Hoosick, 1913
Suggested Teaching Instructions
Covered wooden bridges in New York reflect the development of communities and land transportation. The earliest known covered bridge in New York was built in 1825 and the latest one in 1912. The earliest permanent bridges in New York were constructed using readily available local materials and skilled labor. The cost of constructing bridges was the responsibility of local governments. Timber and stone were found throughout much of New York State and were the logical choice for bridge materials. Local millwrights and joiners were the skilled artisans who constructed the bridges.
The first bridges constructed during colonial times were simple, open structures with plank decks that were at most fifty feet in length. Some covered bridges were constructed in the winter using the ice as a building site. These bridges were constructed on the ice and then raised into place. Longer bridges were built using more spans supported by piers. The open timber truss bridge was inexpensive and a popular bridge form until the early twentieth century, when metal trusses replaced them. The covered bridge was adopted because it protected the timbers from the weather, thus reducing the need for repairs by local governments. Today, covered bridges are being preserved as a vanishing structure type.