April, 2011 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project December, 2010 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project June, 2010 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project June, 2010 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project December, 2009 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project September, 2009 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project June, 2009 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project December, 2008 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project September, 2008 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project June, 2008 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project February, 2008 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project October, 2007 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project June, 2007 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project February, 2007 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project November, 2006 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project October, 2006 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project June, 2006 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project March, 2006 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project February, 2006 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project January, 2006 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project October, 2005 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project June, 2005 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project March, 2005 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project January, 2005 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project September, 2004 Update on Covered Spans of Yesteryear Project June, 2003 Project: Covered Spans of Yesteryear March, 2003 - Another Covered Bridge Endeavor

December, 2009 - By the time this newsletter gets to your mailbox, those of you who pre-ordered new World Guides should have them in your possession. If not, please let me know. The first 100 copies arrived from the printer on the day before Thanksgiving. We had them packaged and mailed on Friday. Many more books have passed through our home since then. I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to my wife, Jenn, for all her help throughout the entire process of preparing this book from helping proofread the text, her help designing the layout of the guide, meetings with the printer, processing all the checks that came in, and preparing orders. And, to my children for all their help unpacking cases of books, stuffing and addressing envelopes, and bringing the boxes of filled orders to the post office. It really was a team effort.
      At the end of the summer, I was contacted by people in Blount County Alabama expressing concern for the bridges in their area and looking for advice. There are three covered structures remaining in the county, and at the time of this writing, all are closed to traffic. This is a picture of the Easley Bridge (WGN 01-05-12)as it appeared during our visit in July. Having been there and seen the bridges myself, I was prompted to take my own advice and contact the local officials. A few days later, I received a very informative letter from the county engineer detailing all the steps they have taken over the years to secure funding for the county's three remaining bridges. The good news is that the money is available and they are preparing plans for repairs to all three bridges. If all goes well, that project will get underway next summer.
      This is truly good news, especially when you look at the history of covered bridges in this area. I have been researching Alabama lately and found a few interesting bits of information. The Cullman Democrat of May 17, 1951 mentioned the Garden City Bridge that spanned the Blount and Cullman county line. The newspaper noted that it was one of 42 covered bridges remaining in Cullman county. Five months later, that same paper ran a front page story about the Garden City Bridge being lost to arson.
      The Garden City Bridge was only one of many Cullman County bridges lost to arson over the years. The Cullman Democrat of October 26, 1939 told of the burning of the covered bridge on Welti Road southeast of Cullman. "It burned like tinder and in less than two hours the 100 foot structure was in ashes." The article stated that this was the third covered bridge lost to arson in the county within the past year. Another article from January 25, 1945 noted that five Cullman County bridges had been lost to arson "within the past few months." There are likely more articles like this still to be discovered. With all these losses, there were still 42 covered spans left in the county in 1951. Only about half of them have been documented on the Covered Spans of Yesteryear website.
      I am continuing my research in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi and appreciate any information you can offer. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.

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September, 2009 - I hope you had an enjoyable summer. We were fortunate enough to be able to visit a number of bridges in Georgia and Alabama during July. Except for missing the Ohio society picnic, everything went as planned. Hopefully, we will be able to attend next year. Now we are looking forward to attending the Pioneer Safari of bridges in western Vermont which will be history by the time you read this. I want to thank those of you who have sent pictures from your trips. It is especially nice to see the pictures of bridges that have been restored or rehabilitated during the past few years. Many of them will be appearing on the website in the future.
    Fall is the time for fairs and festivals. For information about upcoming bridge-related events, visit the website http://www.lostbridges.org and click on the 2009 Calendar of Covered Bridge events link. If you are aware of any covered bridge events not included on that calendar, please let us know. Please support your local societies by actively participating in their events.
    Another event that may already be in the past by the time you read this, is an exhibit of covered bridge photographs and memorabilia donated to the Harvard Massachusetts Historical Society by William Maxant. Mr. Maxant was one of the pioneers in covered bridge photography. His photographs date back to the late 1930's and primarily depict bridges in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The exhibit opens on October 2nd with music and a presentation featuring many of his best pictures. The top photo is from that collection. This is the bridge at South Lee, Massachusetts at the time of Mr. Maxant's visit in September 1947. It was 100 years old at the time. In January 1949, the siding was removed to allow flood waters to pass through. The lower picture, from Dick Roy's collection, was taken October 17, 1954, possibly while the bridge was being removed.
    In my last report, I mentioned that the data entry for Ohio bridges was nearing an end. I am happy to report that after adding statistics for over 4700 structures, that project is complete. Of course, there is still much more information that could be included about those bridges, but they are at least recorded in the database and on the website.
    For the next few months, I will be researching bridges in the deep south, specifically Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. If you have information or pictures of the former bridges in those states, please let me know. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org

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June, 2009 - Now that the weather is warmer and kids are out of school, its time to plan the summer trips and bridge tours. If all goes well, we will be on vacation about the time you receive this newsletter. We intend to visit bridges in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and travel as far south as Georgia and Alabama. I have never visited any bridges in either Georgia or Alabama and am excited to finally have a chance to see them. Near the end of the tour we will stop at the Ohio Historic Bridge Association picnic at the Salt Creek Bridge. Other future plans include the NSPCB picnic in Westminster, VT, in August and visits to some Vermont bridges during September. We look forward to seeing some of you during our travels.

There will plenty of meetings of the various societies in the coming months. For more information about any of these events, visit the website (www.lostbridges.org) and click on the 2009 Calendar of Covered Bridge events link. If you are aware of any covered bridge events not included on that calendar, please let us know. Please support your local societies by actively participating in their meetings.

April marked the sixth anniversary of the Covered Spans of Yesteryear project. That means it is time for the annual status report. After six years with this project we are still receiving significant amounts of new information and pictures on a regular basis. Thank you to all of you who take the time to scan pictures and research our covered bridges. With so much material coming in, it can take months before it gets processed. It will be a long time before I have to worry about how to keep busy.

Lately, the largest amount of new material has been coming from Pennsylvania and Ohio. Some exciting contributions have recently been sent our way. For example, one day I received a DVD with over 1500 scans of Ohio pictures and post cards. That will take a while to process. To compliment those pictures, I hope to complete the data entry of a list of Ohio bridges that was provided near the beginning of the project. So far, I have entered data for over 4000 Ohio bridges in 73 of the 84 counties. Only a few hundred entries left to go.

In addition to the items just mentioned, we continue to receive contributions from our regular correspondents and are grateful to everyone who is helping with this project. To hear about updates as they become available, visit the website - www.lostbridges.org - and sign up for our mailing list. In addition to exploring the website, printed reports from the states and provinces that we have researched can be seen at the Covered Bridge Museum in Bennington, Vermont. If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.

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December, 2008 - This article about bridges of the past will take us to Missouri. The Missouri Historical Review of January 1967 contained an article about the state's covered bridges. After discussing Missouri's remaining covered bridges, the article concluded with notes of the known former ones. One of those was the Graham's Mill Bridge northwest of Chillicothe in Livingston County which is in the northern part of the state.

This postcard from Elna Johnson's collection shows the bridge and mill. For the most part, its story is a typical one. It served the public for about 70 years before being retired by a new concrete and steel structure in 1936. It stood as a local landmark for eight more years before collapsing in 1944.

A scan of Chillicothe newspapers from the early 1900's provided a few articles referring to the old covered bridge. Depending on the source, Col. L. W. Densmore received a contract for $37,000 to build this bridge and one at Jimtown in 1864 or 1866. It was completed two years later. A 1943 article also credits him with a bridge at Utica.

To confuse the issue is a book titled Past and Present of Livingston County, Missouri: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement by Albert J. Roof, published in 1913. It states that the "Graham Mill bridge on the east fork of Grand river and the Jimtown bridge on the main river were the first steel bridges built in the county. The contract for these two structures was let by the county court on May 8, 1866, to L. M. Densmore at a cost of $37,000 for the two… Both bridges were finished in the month of August, 1868."

On March 17, 1913, flooding, partly caused by erosion of the mill dam, threatened the north end of the bridge. County judges went out to inspect the damages to determine if the bridge should be closed. A significant portion of the north embankment had washed out, but the log abutment held firm. Workers were sent to build a wall of logs to protect that section of shore. Two days later the Grand River had receded and the danger was past. The County judges ordered the failing dam removed and it was dynamited the following week.

The May 2, 1944 edition of the Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune carried a front page article announcing that the "bridge fell about noon today, and shattered, it sprawls on a sandbar now, with rapidly rising waters of Grand River lapping at its sides."

For information about other former covered bridges, visit our website at http://www.lostbridges.org. If you have information or pictures of the former bridges in your area, please share that with us. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.

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September, 2008 - Today's article about bridges of the past will take us to the Mississippi River. The large text on the portal advertising the bridge's builders in this 1940 photo from the Illinois Division of Highways captured my attention the first time I saw it. Some of you may remember this bridge on the Illinois approach to the Mississippi River crossing between Keokuk, Iowa and Hamilton, Illinois. As I researched this structure, an interesting story evolved. Most of the following information was found in an article announcing the removal of tolls on the Mississippi River bridge that can be found on page 17 of the Council Bluffs Nonpareil of January 16, 1949. Some additional facts were found in The Covered Bridges of Illinois by Thelma Eaton.

The Hancock Bridge Company of Hamilton, Illinois, was formed in 1865 with the intent of constructing a bridge across the Mississippi River between Keokuk, Iowa and Hamilton, Illinois. The next year, the Keokuk and Hamilton Mississippi Bridge Company was incorporated. The two companies merged and built an 11 span, 2192 foot long iron toll bridge. The structure was used for both railroad and vehicular traffic with the railroad occupying the center of the bridge and street car tracks were both sides. Wagons shared the bridge with the trains and street cars. Walkways were built outside the trusses for pedestrians. The bridge was opened to traffic on June 13, 1871.

A mere 10 years later, on November 8, 1881, the steamer War Eagle, on a regular run, was caught in a strong current and crashed into the bridge wrecking a 160-foot span. While the new iron span was being made, a wooden Howe truss was built to temporarily fill the gap. The wooden span was probably uncovered during its two years of service. Once the new iron span was ready, the wooden truss was removed and rebuilt on the Illinois side over a slough of the Mississippi on a winding road approaching the main bridge. It is believed that the bridge was covered at the time it was rebuilt in this location.

In 1955, a new approach to the river crossing was built and the old road became an entrance to Montebello Beach. The bridge was eventually closed to vehicular traffic. On July 2, 1969, it was burned by a fire that is believed to have been arson.

For information about other former covered bridges, visit our website at http://www.lostbridges.org. If you have information or pictures of the former bridges in your area, please share that with us. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.

June, 2008 - With Covered Spans of Yesteryear now starting its sixth year, I would like to go beyond the volumes of information we have on the website and start sharing articles based on that research. My intent is to steer clear of the bridges that many of you are already familiar with and focus ones that don't get so much attention.

In this first article, I am going to start with a bridge in my home town. During all the years of my childhood, I never knew that just a short mile from my grandparent's house the site of a well known concrete bridge was once occupied by a covered bridge. In fact, it was only a relatively short time ago, near the beginning of our CSOY research, that I learned of its existence.

When asked to list states with covered bridges, Rhode Island isn't one of the first ones to cross your mind. It is the only New England state without an historic covered bridge. There never were many in the state. Providence had a couple, so did Woonsocket, and there were a small number of others scattered around. One of those "others" was on Boston Neck Road at Narragansett Pier. It is shown here in a postcard from the collection of the late Richard Donovan. In 1867, when this bridge was built, Narragansett Pier had only recently been settled as a village within the town of South Kingstown. (The town of Narragansett wasn't incorporated until 1901.) By the 1880s, the village would become a popular summer resort with grand hotels, expensive summer "cottages" and a large casino. Situated at the northern edge of the village, the bridge over Narrow River was a single span Howe truss of 120' with an interesting rounded portal. It was built at a cost of $4,834.35 and stood at this location until the road was realigned in 1920. It was replaced by the concrete Governor Sprague Bridge which itself was retired a few years ago.

For information about other former covered bridges, visit our website at http://www.lostbridges.org. If you have information or pictures of the former bridges in your area, please share that with us. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org

February, 2008 - A new year is here and it's time to compile the 2008 Calendar of Covered Bridge Events for the Covered Spans of Yesteryear website. This listing includes society meeting dates, festivals, and other covered bridge events, along with society newsletter deadlines and membership renewal dates. Please help us make this list as complete and accurate as possible by sending information to Trish Kane (bobtrish68@frontiemet.net) and don't forget to support your local societies by attending their meetings and events.

Updates to the website this quarter include enhanced information for a number of Ohio and Pennsylvania counties; see our "What's New" section for more details. Information has been added about former covered bridges in Alabama, California, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, from Richard Sanders Allen's notes in the NSPCB Archives.

If you would like to offer pictures of the former bridges in your area, and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is much territory still to cover, and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. At this time we are especially interested in data and pictures from the southeastern states. Email is the most effective way to contact me (bill@lostbridges.org).
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October, 2007 -It was a busy summer this year. During our family vacation we were able to attend the Ohio Historic Bridge Association picnic at the Salt Creek Bridge and join one day of the Indiana Covered Bridge Society's tour of Vermillion and Fountain County Bridges. It was great to get out and talk about the project with people in those areas. Being my first Indiana Society function I was able to meet some of the people who have been helping make Covered Spans of Yesteryear such a success. We had a great day for bridging and they made us feel right at home. Please help support your local societies by attending their meetings and events. For more information about covered bridge events in your area, visit the website and click on the 2007 Calendar of Covered Bridge events link.

Updates this quarter include enhanced information for a number of Ohio and Pennsylvania counties. See "What's New" section of the website for more details. Information and pictures of former covered bridges in Michigan is now available. Vermont data has been enhanced with additional pictures and information from the NSPCB Archives. In addition to the items just mentioned, we continue to receive contributions from our regular correspondents and are grateful to everyone who is helping with this project. To hear about updates as they become available, visit the website --www.lostbridges.org --and sign up for our mailing list. In addition to exploring the website, printed reports from the states and provinces that we have researched can be seen at the Covered Bridge Museum in Bennington, Vermont.

If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. We need the most help in the southern states --particularly Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me --bill@lostbridges.org
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June, 2007 - The spring & summer have been quite busy with presentations for the Vermont Covered Bridge Society in April and Bennington (VT) Museum in June. In June we also had displays at a fundraiser for the Pier Bridge Restoration in Newport, NH, and the Vermont History Expo in Tunbridge. If all goes as planned, our summer vacation in July will include attendance at the Ohio Historic Bridge Association picnic at the Salt Creek Bridge and the Indiana Covered Bridge Society's tour of Vermillion and Fountain County Bridges. Then on to the NSPCB picnic in Westminster, VT, in August. For more information about any of these events, visit the website and click on the 2007 Calendar of Covered Bridge events link. I hope to see some of you during our travels.

Some exciting contributions have recently been sent our way. Todd Clark and Elna Johnson have both contributed copies of a large number of New York pictures and postcards from their collections. Those were combined with the cards from Trish Kane's collection to add over 300 new pictures of that state's present and past covered bridges to the website. Todd and Elna have submitted pictures from many other states as well. Those will be added as time permits. Trish has researched the former bridges of Rensselaer and Washington Counties. That material is now available. Other New York counties will be forthcoming.

Leola and Steve Pierce of the Covered Bridge Society of Virginia sent along some pictures and information related to former covered bridges in their area. This data was gathered from the archives of the Virginia Department of Transportation and Virginia Transportation Research Council. That material will be available by the time you read this.

In addition to the items just mentioned, we continue to receive contributions from our regular correspondents and are grateful to everyone who is helping with this project. To hear about updates as they become available, visit the website – www.lostbridges.org – and sign up for our mailing list. In addition to exploring the website, printed reports from the states and provinces that we have researched can be seen at the Covered Bridge Museum in Bennington, Vermont.

If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.
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February 2007 - The winter months provide some time to stay inside and get pictures scanned. As a result, many Pennsylvania pictures have recently been added to the website. Information about some of the former covered bridges in California, Washington and West Virginia have been added along with Columbiana (312 bridges) through Erie Counties in Ohio. Work has begun on New York, which, with Ohio, is the last of the "big" states to compile. You may see some of these pictures appearing shortly.

As I mentioned in the previous update, the Newport (NH) Historical Society is presently raising money for a $100,000, 20% grant match (grant is for $500,000) for fire suppression and repairs for the Pier Railroad Covered Bridge. If you can help, donations can be sent to The Pier Bridge Preservation Project, c/o Sugar River Savings Bank, PO Box 569, Newport, NH 03773. There are some exciting plans underway for fund-raising events and information regarding them will be distributed as I receive them. A list of Pier Bridge items they are offering for sale is posted on our website at http://www.lostbridges.org/pierbridge.pdf and on the Vermont Society's website at http://www.vermontbridges.com/pier%20bridge%20proj.htm Please help support their efforts in preserving this historic railroad covered bridge.

This year is the 80th anniversary of the 1927 flood that devastated Vermont. I have been working on compiling a list of the covered bridges lost during that great storm. If anyone has information or photographs they would like to share in regards to the flood, it would be greatly appreciated. Some of you have already seen the beginnings of the presentation I am preparing on this topic and I hope to have it completed next summer.

To hear about updates as they become available visit the website – www.lostbridges.org – and sign up for our mailing list. In addition to exploring the website, reports from the states and provinces that we have researched to date are available at the Covered Bridge Museum in Bennington, Vermont.

If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.
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November 2006 - With the shorter days and less enticement to be outdoors, the winter scanning and research season has gotten underway. As a result, you can expect to see more frequent updates to the Covered Spans of Yesteryear website – www.lostbridges.org.

This fall was a great time to get out and do some hands-on research. That is, traveling around New Hampshire to visit former bridge sites. While out exploring the Newport area I met some of the people from the Newport Historical Society. They are presently raising money for a $100,000, 20% grant match (grant is for $500,000) for fire suppression and repairs for the Pier Railroad Covered Bridge.

If you can help, donations can be sent to The Pier Bridge Preservation Project, c/o Sugar River Savings Bank, PO Box 569, Newport, NH 03773. They are planning some fundraising events and I will get information about those events distributed when I have more details. They have many Pier Bridge items for sale. Contact Jacqueline Cote, Treasurer and Fundraising Chair at ljcote@iglide.net or phone (603) 863-3105 for more details.

Recent updates include Vermont pictures from the Puffer Collection, substantial enhancements to a few counties in Pennsylvania and addition of some former covered bridges in Maryland, New Jersey and Ohio (Adams through Clinton Counties). Pennsylvania pictures are being scanned and may be appearing about the time you read this. We have begun work on New York, which, with Ohio, is the last of the "big" states to compile. There is no shortage of information available; it's just a matter of processing it all.

2007 will be the 80th anniversary of the 1927 flood that devastated Vermont. I have been working on compiling a list of the covered bridges lost during that great storm. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Some of you have already seen the beginnings of the presentation I am preparing on the topic. I hope to have it ready next summer.

To hear about updates as they become available visit the website and sign up for our mailing list. In addition to exploring the website, reports from the states and provinces that we have researched are available at the Covered Bridge Museum in Bennington, Vermont.

If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any help will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.
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October, 2006 -This summer I took advantage of the opportunity to get out and visit some bridges. On my first-ever visit to the Pacific Northwest I was able see all of Oregon's remaining authentic covered bridges along with a couple in Washington and the one near Keremeos, British Columbia. Thanks to Bill Cockrell of the Oregon Covered Bridge Society for spending one of those days showing me around the bridges in his area, pointing out a number of former bridge locations and introducing me to the offerings at the local wine tasting room.

A later trip included visits to a few bridges in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Maryland plus a stop at the Ohio Historic Bridge Association's annual picnic at the Salt Creek Covered Bridge northeast of Zanesville. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with people we have been working with during the past year. I'd like to thank OHBA president David Simmons for offering me a few minutes to talk about the CSOY project and Miriam Wood for sharing her vast knowledge and expertise on Ohio’s bridges. That trip included a stop at one of the most recent losses, the West Paden Bridge in Columbia County, PA.

The Smithsonian's traveling exhibit -- Covered Bridges: Spanning the American Landscape will be at the Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, VT between August 5th and October 15th. Visit their website for more information -- http://www.montshire.net/. On September 29th, I will be speaking about some of the former covered bridges of Vermont and New Hampshire. The exhibit travels to Museum in the Park, Chief Logan State Park, Logan, WV for November and December -- http://www.chiefloganstatepark.com/activities.html

Updates to the website have been continuing although at a slower pace due to the summer excursions. There have been a number of Pennsylvania and Oregon updates along with a few new pictures from those areas. To hear about updates as they become available, visit the website and sign up for our mailing list. In addition to exploring the website, reports from the states and provinces that we have researched are available at the Covered Bridge Museum in Bennington, Vermont.

If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any help will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me -- bill@lostbridges.org
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June, 2006 - This summer, the Covered Spans of Yesteryear project will be three years old. I'd like to take a moment to share some statistics of the progress we have realized so far. To date, we have documented over 8,100 covered bridges that no longer exist in addition to the 1,200+ that still dot the landscape. The number of former structures will increase significantly once Ohio data is added. We have pictures of nearly 1,900 of those former structures. In total, over 4,500 pictures representing numerous collections are available on the website. We couldn't have gotten this far without those of you who help by sending information and pictures. Thank you!

    Recently, Robert Laughlin has shared his extensive database of Kentucky information. With his help, over 700 bridges in that state have now been documented. Ron Branson of the County History Preservation Society (www.countyhistory.org) has submitted many Indiana covered bridge pictures from his collection and offered a few corrections as well. Maine pictures from the Dick Roy and Richard Donovan collections may be available by the time you read this. Thomas Kipphorn's Pennsylvania research continues with the addition of Columbia County data.

    To hear about updates as they become available visit the website and sign up for our mailing list. In addition to exploring the website, reports from the states and provinces that we have researched are available at the Covered Bridge Museum in Bennington, Vermont.
    If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any help will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.

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March, 2006 - Since our last update, the most significant enhancement to the Covered Spans of Yesteryear website (www.lostbridges.org) was the addition of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario data and pictures. Over 350 covered bridges from New Brunswick are now documented. Gérald Arbour has reviewed the Quebec data, provided additions and corrections, and sent copies of over 400 pictures from his collection to be added to the website. Those pictures may be available by the time you read this.
      We are very fortunate to have people sharing their original research with us. Howard Rogers of South Carolina sent a well-documented notebook full of his North and South Carolina research. Thomas Kipphorn and Bill Cockrell regularly provide updates of their continuing research in Pennsylvania and Oregon. Their efforts are greatly appreciated. To hear about updates as they become available visit the website and sign up for our mailing list. In addition to exploring the website, reports from the states and provinces that we have researched to date are available at the Covered Bridge Museum in Bennington Vermont.
      Much of our information is extracted from published sources. The various covered bridge journals and newsletters that have been published over the years are a valuable resource to us. We are building a collection of newsletters and journals from the various covered bridge societies to be used as reference material for this project. To date, the Oregon Covered Bridge Society, The National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, the Indiana Covered Bridge Society, the Covered Bridge Society of Virginia, the Vermont Covered Bridge Society, and the Ohio Historic Bridge Association have each generously donated copies of their newsletters to assist us in this important endeavor and we are extremely grateful. Thanks to each of you.
      Some of these publications are nearly complete, while others are missing many issues. If you have any duplicate copies you would be willing to donate, we would certainly appreciate it. We are currently searching for copies of certain issues of the Kentucky Covered Bridge Association – Timbered Tunnel Talk. If you can assist us in this area, please contact Trish Kane at: bobtrish68@frontiernet.net. She will send you a list of the issues we are missing. (Note: The Spring 1986 issue of Timbered Tunnel Talk mentioned that the location of 276 former covered bridges in that state had been documented. Does anyone have a list of these structures?)
      If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any help will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.

February, 2006 - The year 2006 has arrived and I would like to take a moment to thank those of you who provided material for the Covered Spans of Yesteryear project during 2005. The growth we have experienced during the past year is remarkable. During the summer we doubled the disk space available for the website to accommodate all the photos we have been receiving. That extra space has filled requiring another expansion. With the most recent posting there are over 4,000 covered bridge photos enhancing the text data available. And to date, we have had over 9,300 visitors to the site. Visit us at www.lostbridges.org to see the most recent updates.

The short, cold days of winter in New Hampshire provide the perfect excuse to work on indoor projects. It is an opportunity to make some progress on the backlog of photo scanning and data entry to be done. Scanning of Dick Roy's and Richard Donovan's Canadian collections is complete. Those pictures will be available by the time you read this update. Indiana pictures from the Richard Donovan and Dick Roy collections have been added as well.

Bill Cockrell of the Oregon Covered Bridge Society continues to supplement the information for that state with pictures and data gathered from the Oregon DOT archives. He recently added over 100 pictures from the Ben Maxwell and Douglas County Library Collections. He has also added a few previously unknown bridges to the database. Back in the eastern states, we thank Thomas Kipphorn of PA for sharing his Lancaster County research and pictures. Photos of nearly every bridge that ever existed in Lancaster County are now available on the website.

We have begun working on the tremendous volume of information from Ohio. Those bridges will be appearing in the coming months. Also, I have started scanning the Maine pictures from the Richard Donovan and Dick Roy collections.

We have established a number of contacts, but are still lacking in certain areas. Specifically, there is a need for people with knowledge of lost bridges in the southeastern states. If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me at: bill@lostbridges.org. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any help will be greatly appreciated.
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January, 2006 - As we enter into 2006, I would like to take a moment to thank those of you who provided material for the Covered Spans of Yesteryear project during 2005.  The growth we have experienced during the past year is remarkable.  During the summer we doubled the disk space available for the website to accommodate all the photos we have been receiving.  That extra space is nearly full and will require another expansion soon.  With the most recent posting there are over 3,000 covered bridge photos enhancing the text data available.  And to date, we have had over 8,500 visitors to the site. Visit us at www.lostbridges.org to see the most recent updates.

   The short, cold days of winter in New Hampshire provide the perfect excuse to work on indoor projects. It is an opportunity to make some progress on the backlog of photo scanning and data entry to be done. Scanning of Dick Roy's Canadian collection is complete and some of those pictures could be available by the time you read this update.  Indiana pictures from the Richard Donovan and Dick Roy collections have been added as well.

   Bill Cockrell of the Oregon Covered Bridge Society continues to supplement the information for that state with pictures and data gathered from the Oregon DOT archives.  He recently added over 100 pictures from the Ben Maxwell Collection, which is stored in the Salem Library.  He has also added a few previously unknown bridges to the database.  Back in the eastern states, we thank Thomas Kipphorn of PA for sharing his Lancaster County research and pictures.  Photos of nearly every bridge that ever existed in Lancaster County are now available on the website.

   We have begun working on the tremendous volume of information from Ohio.  Those bridges will be appearing in the coming months.  Also, I have started scanning the Maine pictures from the Richard Donovan and Dick Roy collections.

   We have established a number of contacts, but are still lacking in certain areas.  Specifically, there is a need for people with knowledge of lost bridges in the southeastern states. If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me at: bill@lostbridges.org.  There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any help will be greatly appreciated. 

October, 2005 - Summer is a time to get away from the computer and do some traveling. Since the last update I have been able to go "on tour" and spread the word about Covered Spans of Yesteryear in person. The weekend of June 25th and 26th was spent at the Vermont History Expo in Tunbridge. For those of you not familiar with this event, it is an annual gathering of the state's historical societies, historic preservation groups, genealogical groups, and just about anyone else with an interest in the history of the state and its people. CSOY shared a booth with the Vermont Covered Bridge Society and offered a PowerPoint slide presentation of Vermont's past covered bridges. People stopped by to inquire about the former bridges of their town, shared stories, and offered additional details about those structures.

In July, I made an all too brief visit to Ohio. A couple of days of bridging and an opportunity to attend the Ohio Historic Bridge Association's annual picnic at the Salt Creek Covered Bridge northeast of Zanesville. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with people we have been working with through email. I'd like to thank OHBA president David Simmons for offering me a few minutes to talk about the CSOY project and Miriam Wood for sharing her vast knowledge and expertise on Ohio's bridges.

Those events, along with the NSPCB meetings in July and August, provided a number of opportunities to make contacts, gather information and keep people updated on our progress.

While I was out roaming around, Bill Cockrell of the Oregon Covered Bridge Society was busy gathering photos from the Oregon DOT archives and having them put on a CD. As of this writing, nearly 400 pictures have been received and added to the website. A CD containing almost 400 pictures from Lisa Plamondon of Michigan has supplemented data from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and a few other states. If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any help will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.

Text information from Pennsylvania is still being added. By the time you read this, all of the known covered bridges in that state should be documented in some form. Pictures will be added when time permits. In between batches of Pennsylvania data, details of former bridges in Delaware and Kentucky have been posted. Next we will begin on the tremendous volume of information from Ohio.

We have established a number of contacts, but are still lacking in certain areas. Specifically, there is a need for people with knowledge of lost bridges in the southeastern states. If you can help in this area, please let us know.
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June, 2005 - On May 7th, we had the honor of offering a presentation at the Vermont Covered Bridge Society's Annual Meeting in Lyndonville. The program began with a description the Covered Spans of Yesteryear project followed by pictures and stories of covered bridges lost in the 1927 flood.

       Since our last update, our knowledge of Oregon structures has been enhanced tremendously thanks to research provided by Bill Cockrell of the Covered Bridge Society of Oregon. The website now includes 638 covered bridges for that state. When you get a few moments, be sure to visit the website (www.lostbridges.org) and see our progress to date.

       If you live in Vermont or will be traveling in the area during late June, consider a stop at the Vermont History Expo in Tunbridge during the weekend of June 25 & 26. We will be sharing a booth with the Vermont Covered Bridge Society and showing pictures of long gone Vermont bridges. For more information about the expo, see their website - http://www.vermonthistory.org/expo/
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March, 2005 - Before getting into the details for this update, I would like to take a moment to thank all the people who have submitted information. Without the help of correspondents throughout the US and Canada, we would not have been able to achieve the milestones we have to date. In particular, our knowledge of Oregon, Ohio and New York bridges has been enhanced tremendously in recent weeks. More on that later.

The most significant supplement to the Covered Spans of Yesteryear website (www.lostbridges.org) since our last update is the addition of Vermont pictures. As I write this, 685 past and current Vermont bridges have been documented. We have scanned pictures of 360 of them and included them on the website. A similar situation exists in New Hampshire where 255 of the 424 known bridges include pictures with a few more to be added shortly. Indiana is next on the list to be scanned. If you are interested in offering pictures of the lost bridges in your area and have the ability to scan them, please contact me. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me - bill@lostbridges.org.

In the year and a half since this project got underway, over 6,600 lost bridges have been documented. As I mentioned earlier, we have started receiving New York and Ohio data, which will increase that total significantly. Information about the known covered bridges of Oregon has recently been received and is being entered into the database. Once that step is completed, reports of the Oregon data will be sent out to experts in the area to check its accuracy.

As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions. With any project of this magnitude, errors are inevitable. Data extracted from books reflects the knowledge at the time they were written and may need to be updated. If you find inaccuracies in the data on the website, please bring them to our attention so they can be corrected.

We have established a number of contacts, but are still lacking in certain areas. Specifically, there is a need for people with knowledge of lost bridges in the southeastern states. If you can help in this area, please let us know.

Trish Kane, 167 Williams Rd., Sherburne, NY 13460,
bobtrish68@frontiernet.net, 607-674-9656

Bill Caswell, PO Box 2242, Concord, NH 03302-2242
bill@lostbridges.org.
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January, 2005 - Since our last update, there have been two significant enhancements to the Covered Spans of Yesteryear website. Data from the 1999-2004 series of Covered Bridge Topics articles about Maine covered bridges has been incorporated into the database. The resulting material was reviewed by experts in that area and further improved. That information is available on the website. The project has also been augmented by the addition of a mailing list. By joining the mailing list, you will be notified of updates as they happen. Members can also use this list to share information about covered bridges of the past. Go to www.lostbridges.org for more information.

       Currently, lists of bridges from New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Pennsylvania are in various stages of completion. This process includes adding the data to the database, proofreading it, and then distributing the list to people with extensive knowledge of the particular area for review and comment. Also, a collection of Vermont photographs and post cards is in the process of being scanned. Selections from Addison and Bennington counties are already available and others will be posted as they are completed.

       Information from many other states and provinces is still needed. As we mentioned in the last update, early editions of Topics mention 125 bridges in Georgia while only half of those have been documented so far. They also mention 50 bridges in Virginia while we only have details about 11. New Brunswick once had many more bridges than those remaining today. If you have additional information about these areas, please send it along. Although complete details of each structure is the ultimate goal, that is rarely possible. Any details will be greatly appreciated.
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September, 2004 - When the Covered Spans of Yesteryear project was publicly announced, the information available included little more than data from the various editions of the World Guide. Since that time significant amounts of information have been added from New Hampshire, Vermont, Quebec, and most recently, Indiana. Pictures of many of the New Hampshire bridges have been added as well as ones from Virginia and Rutland County, Vermont. This information was provided by people who have been researching these regions for many years. Although many more details can be added, the information currently available is a good representation of the bridges known to exist in these areas. Currently, lists of bridges from Maine, New York, Oregon, and Pennsylvania are in various stages of completion. This process includes adding the data to the database, proofreading it, and then distributing the list to people with extensive knowledge of the particular area for review and comment.
       Information from many other states & provinces is still needed. For example, early editions of Topics mention 125 bridges in Georgia while only half of those have been documented so far. A similar situation exists in New Brunswick where we are aware of less than half of the suggested 300 bridges. They also mention 50 bridges in Virginia while we only have details regarding 11. If you have additional information about these three regions, please send it along. Although complete details of each structure is the ultimate goal, we realize that is rarely possible. Any details will be greatly appreciated.
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June, 2003 - Project: Covered Spans of Yesteryear -- Our lost covered bridge project now has an 'official' name. A special thanks to Bill Cockrell from Salem, Oregon and Bill Caswell from Concord, New Hampshire for stepping up to assist with this project. For those of you who don't know, Bill Cockrell is the Newsletter Editor for The Bridge Tender, Oregon's official Covered Bridge Publication. Bill Caswell supervises the CAD/D (Computer Aided Design/Drafting) Section at the New Hampshire DOT and brings a wealth of computer knowledge and expertise to this project. Thanks to both of you for all you have done to get this project off the ground. If you would be interested in researching information on past covered bridges for Project: Covered Spans of Yesteryear for your state, (or adopt another state) we would certainly welcome your assistance. For more information, feel free to email us at: bobtrish68@clarityconnect.com.
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March, 2003 - Another Covered Bridge Endeavor - As active Bridgers, we are often asked if a comprehensive list of all covered bridges that ever existed has ever been compiled. To our knowledge, there isn't one, but individual covered bridge or historical societies may have one for their state or area. Special thanks to Richard Donovan and Richard Roy for providing us with a great beginning to this project (over 800 lost bridges). We would like to take it one step further and add as many others as we can to this list. If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. We have designed a form that will assist you in your research and also indicate the type of information we would like to record on each bridge. Seem overwhelming? We thought so too at first, but once we got started, it really isn't difficult at all and we have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from the research. What has been really interesting is to see just how we lost these bridges. Most have been lost to arson, flood, wind, snow, and collapse . . .but not necessarily in that order. Surprised? We were too. It is truly amazing, and once completed, this listing will be a tremendous wealth of historical information. For more information, feel free to email us at: bobtrish68@clarityconnect.com.
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