Few symbols of America's transportation past are as popular or evoke as much nostalgia as covered bridges. While several regional histories and guidebooks exist, no general history of the subject in America has been written in the past 20 years. This engaging historical chronology of covered bridges past and present and located across the United States celebrates a quickly vanishing touchstone of rural Americana. The author explains the origin of covered bridges beginning in 1805 before continuing through the "classic era" (1830-1920) and the structure's gradual downfall from 1950 to 1980. Along the way, readers learn of architectural styles and structural types, and discussions of their cultural significance in rural communities. The text is accompanied by color photography of centuries-old structures called from the author's 35-year-old collection, as well as by photos from state and regional archives.

Among the featured bridges are two of the longest covered bridges left in the United States, the Medora and Williams bridges; Kentucky's Bennett Mill Bridge, the only surviving Wheeler truss bridge; and the Stark Bridge in New Hampshire, which provides one of the most picturesque scenes in America.

As many as 15,000 covered bridges were built in North America over the past 200 years. Fewer than 1,000 remain. In America's Covered Bridges, authors Terry E. Miller and Ronald G. Knapp tell the fascinating story of these bridges, how they were built, the technological breakthroughs required to construct them and above all the dedication and skill of their builders. Each wooden bridge, whether still standing or long gone, has a story to tell about the nature of America at the time--not only about its transportational needs, but the availability of materials and the technological prowess of the people who built it. Illustrated with some 550 historical and contemporary photos, paintings, and technical drawings of nearly 400 different covered bridges, America's Covered Bridges offers five readable chapters on the history, design and fate of America's covered bridges, plus related bridges in Canada. Most of the contemporary photography is by master photographer A. Chester Ong of Hong Kong. 55 photo essays on the most iconic bridges including: Cornish-Windsor Bridge between Vermont and New Hampshire Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Maine East Paden and West Paden (Twin Bridges), Pennsylvania Philippi Bridge, West Virginia Hortons Mill Bridge, Alabama Medora Bridge, Indiana Rock Mill Bridge, Ohio Knight's Ferry Bridge, California Perrault Bridge, Quebec, Canada Hartland Bridge, New Brunswick, Canada Over time, wooden bridges eventually gave way to ones made of iron, steel and concrete. An American icon, many covered bridges became obsolete and were replaced—others simply decayed and collapsed. Many more were swept away by natural disasters and fires. America's Covered Bridges is absolutely packed with fascinating stories and information passionately told by two leading experts on this subject. The book will be of tremendous interest to anyone interested in American history, carpentry and technological change.

Covered Bridges are historic pieces of American and Canadian rural history, gracing the countryside from Oregon to Tennessee and from California to New Brunswick and across Canada. In this lavishly illustrated volume Joseph D. Conwill recounts the rich, romantic history of covered bridges as they developed from early timber bridges, born out of the traditions of Medieval times, into modernized structures designed for the motorized traffic of the early twentieth century. Reflecting on the efforts to keep covered bridges in service as the face of the rural landscape is transformed, and the challenge of preserving their historic character while making them safe for modern traffic, Conwill guides the reader across the diverse range of covered bridges to be found throughout the North America.

A complete guide to more than 200 covered bridges in the six New England states.

Covered bridges are gaining public attention as states and counties make investments in their repair and preservation, offer tours of them, and build new ones. This work documents all extant covered bridges in the southeastern United States: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia. (Mississippi has none.) The book is arranged by state, then by county and bridge name. The bridges are in four categories: authentic historic, authentic modern, non-authentic historic, and non-authentic modern. For each, a history and description, the World Guide Covered Bridge identification number, and length and width dimensions are given. To be included, a bridge must have been originally built as a true covered bridge, used as a means of traveling over an obstacle, usually water, not for access to a building or between buildings, and have a covered portion at least ten feet in length. There are 65 black & white and 55 color photographs.