ELK CREEK

PA/38-57-07x Elk Creek / Lincoln Falls Bridge- Original sources list it as unknown dimensions and truss type, but likely a single span. It was built in 1876 by John and Henry Hill and destroyed by a flood in December, 1911. Current aerial imagery matches the same bridge shown in Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to June 21, 1939. There are no online maps that predate the destruction of the covered bridge, so the exact site is unknown, but there is a road leading to a crossing, or gap at the stream about 650' south of the present bridge at approximately 41° 30.92'N, 76° 39.70'W which may be the old site. Regardless, it was located in Elkland Township on Minnequa Avenue (Route 154 - SR0154). The present bridge is in the middle of a large "s" curve. Coordinates are at the existing bridge.

41° 31.02'N, 76° 39.74'W

HOAGLAND BRANCH OR A TRIBUTARY OF HOAGLAND BRANCH

PA/38-57-14x High Bridge- Unknown dimensions and truss type, but it likely was a single span. Some of the maps are showing the site crossing Hoagland Branch, while others are showing it as un unnamed tributary converging with Hoagland Branch further south. Regardless, in Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to May 10, 1939, the covered bridge is already gone. The bridge shown on Penn Pilot matches the current bridge, which is scaling to about 55' on the Map 24 scale. It was located in Fox Township at the village of Shunk on Minnequa Avenue (Route 154 - SR0154) which was Route 610 in former times. A right off the western end continues Route 154 (SR0154 - formerly LR56013), while straight ahead becomes SR4002, formerly LR56008 and after about 140' SR4005, formerly LR56031 bares off to the right. None of the mapping sources have names for the other roads mentioned.

41° 32.72'N, 76° 44.56'W

LEVEL BRANCH OF LICK CREEK

PA/38-57-08x John Campbell's Mill / Campbellville Bridge- It was a single span Queenpost Truss in the 70 foot range. The covered bridge is still standing in Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to April 16, 1939. It crossed the Level Branch of Lick Creek in Forks Township on an old alignment of Burke Road (T438) that appears to have still been in use at that time. The bridge is oriented northwest to southeast about 100' upstream from the convergence of the two streams. "John Campbell started construction of his gristmill and the covered bridge there in the spring of 1849. He obtained his lumber from the Hunsinger sawmill less than 1/8th of a mile down stream on Lick Creek that had just been established in 1848/1849. The Kelly brothers and several other local farmers assisted John Campbell in building his house and the covered bridge that was over Level Branch. The bridge connected Burke Road to Kelly Hill Road (T447), and the right-of-way continued down Lick Creek Road (SR4016 - LR56018) that follows the creek downstream. In 1902, a flood washed away the mill which led to the demise of the village over time. During the first half of the 1900's, a resident was burning brush near the edge of the surrounding woods and caught the woods on fire, which burned the general store and some of the houses. In 1954-55 the covered bridge was auctioned off and sold to Otis and Florence Hatch of Forksville for $82.50." (Quoted text, courtesy of: http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/sullivancountyfolk/campbellville/CampbellvilleHistory.htm ) Coordinates for the bridge are close, but approximate.

41° 33.22'N, 76° 33.23'W

Photograph of the mill and covered bridge taken just prior to 1899 before the great flood in December 1901 when the mill was completely washed away.

The Covered bridge across Level Branch Creek showing it's reflection in the mill pond.

The Covered bridge was built in late 1849 connecting the wagon roads of Lick Creek and Kelly Hill, by crossing the bridge to meet Sugar Hill Rd. The Covered bridge served the local residents and farmers for over one-hundred years. It was constructed somewhat similar to the "Queen Post" style. The sign on top of the bridge says "Warning 10 ft. Clearance", the sign on the right says " 3 Tons Safe Limit". In 1954 or 1955, the Covered bridge was sold to a Mr. Otis Hatch for the amount of $82.50. Local residents Carl Pardoe and Otis Hatch dismantled the bridge for it's lumber. The large timbers went to a Keith McCarty for use at his saw mill. As of 2004 the stone foundations are still in place reminding us of times lost to the past.

One of the Covered bridge's original main foundations that supported the north side of the bridge coming down what is now called Burke Road. The foundation is approximately fifteen feet or more high. Imagine how deep the pond was in the old photo.

All photos and captions courtesy Burke S. Campbell's website at: http://www.campbellvillepa.com/

Same view as above, courtesy of: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dryer/page64.htm

LICK CREEK

PA/38-57-09x Millville / Millview Bridge- It was a single span of unknown dimensions and truss type. In Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to April 16, 1939, the covered bridge is already gone and a new bridge has been built about 140' downstream, which is the same bridge seen in current aerial imagery and is approximately 50' long. It was located in Forks Township at the village of Millview on Loyalsock Avenue (Route 87- SR0087). Coordinates are at the old site.

41° 30.54'N, 76° 35.10'W

Note: Big Loyalsock and Loyalsock Creeks are the same stream.

LOYALSOCK CREEK

PA/38-57-06x Worlds End Bridge- Unknown dimensions and truss type. In Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to April 16, 1939, the covered bridge is already gone and has been replaced by the same bridge seen in current aerial imagery that is scaling to about 125' on the Map 24 scale. When comparing different aged maps, it appears the current bridge is at the same site as the covered bridge. It was located in Forks Township on Minnequa Avenue (Route 154 - SR0154, Route 291 on the 1915 Type 10 map).

41° 28.19'N, 76° 35.05'W

PA/38-57-01 Forksville Bridge- It is a single span Burr Truss 163' long with a 15' roadway, built in 1850 by Sadler Rodgers. It is located in Forks Township at the town of Forksville on Bridge Street. This is now SR4012, formerly LR56007 Spur, but was originally the main crossing point for present Route 87 before the road was relocated about 1,400' downstream in 1937 to the present two span Pratt through truss of 317' (Bridgehunter.com).

41° 29.30'N, 76° 36.01'W

PA/38-57-02 Hillsgrove Bridge- It is a single span Burr Truss 186' long with an 18' roadway, built in 1850 by Sadler Rodgers. There is a building date of 1881 by Sadler Rogers (without the "d") from another source. It is located in Hillsgrove Township close to its border with Elkland Township on Covered Bridge Road (T357) a short distance west of a "T" intersection with Splash Dam Road (T359), which is an old section of Route 87 (SR0087). It is the longest of the three remaining covered bridges in the county.

41° 27.64'N, 76° 40.26'W

Note: Every photo I had seen until 2011 showed this bridge as a wrought iron through truss bridge. . So, I was doubtful of the existence of a covered bridge here, since this stretch of the railroad only existed about 18 years. However, I learned in 2011 that there were two bridges side by side *. You can see the iron bridge in the Bridge of Spooks portal view in the link to the Souvenir of Hillsgrove at the end of this page. Here is the photo I mentioned of the two bridges next to each other--the covered bridge, built in 1876, is on the left, while the Susquehanna and Eagles Mere Railroad Bridge is on the right. Read more about the Bridge of Spooks further down this page.
* Editor's Note: According to Melanie Norton of the Sullivan County Historical Society, in March 2011, the wrought iron truss bridge mentioned is probably the one that was in front of the Little League Camp Road that leads off Lincoln Falls Road going to High Knob Inn. She can remember when the state demolished that one to put in an open span concrete bridge. Although it's still in Hillsgrove Twp., Sullivan County, it had nothing to do with the Bridge(s) of Spooks on the south end of Hillsgrove
* Editor's Note: The second photo below, provided courtesy of Scott W. Tilden, shows the High Knob covered bridge itself in an old RPPC postcard photo from about 1950. The unused postcard itself was auctioned on eBay in July 2012.

High Knob Covered Bridge and and Iron Truss Bridge
Side by SidePhoto courtesy of the Sullivan County Historical Society and Museum

High Knob Covered Bridge
Photo courtesy of Scott W. Tilden
Original postcard photo auctioned on eBay in July 2012

PA/38-57-12x Susquehanna and Eagles Mere Narrow Gauge Railroad Bridge at Hillsgrove- "C.W. Sones was hired by the Union Tanning Company to log a very large tract, 16 square miles, of lumber in 1902. He built a 3' gauge railroad that connected to the Eagles Mere Railroad at Eagles Mere Park near the lake and continued 3 miles down Kettle Creek to the mill. The place became known as Sonesville. This is not the same place as Sonestown, although both are named after C.W. Sones. After two years of harvesting, Sones decided to extend the railroad another eight miles to Hillsgrove, where the UTC had a tannery. In 1906, Sones decided to extend the line again. He believed that the rates on the Williamsport and North Branch were excessive and therefore built another ten miles of railroad to Masten. Not long after, it was decided that the facility at Sonesville was too small, and he moved the operation to Masten. When his contract ended with the UTC in 1917, the Central Lumber Company, another USLC subsidiary, took over the line. The section east of Sonesville was abandoned in 1922 because the lumber was gone. The last 5 mile section near Masten was abandoned in 1930. (Quoted text courtesy of: http://www.personal.psu.edu/tss109/railroad/history/OLD_WNB_readme.html )

Original sources have it listed with unknown dimensions and truss type, but it was built in 1904. If there was a covered bridge at this site, it was very short lived, as all photographs depicting the bridge at this site show it to be a wrought iron through truss bridge, with the northern end resting on a pier, which is low to the water and still in existence, followed by a short open span to the shore. Current aerial imagery matches Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to May 4, 1939, less the increased foliage. Dimensions from the pier to southern streambank are measuring about 190'. It was found on the Susquehanna and Eagles Mere Narrow Gauge Railroad, crossing at a northeast to southwest angle with the southern abutment directly beside the southern abutment of the Bridge of Spooks (PA/38-57-05x). The rail line was abandoned in 1922, at which time the iron bridge was removed. Coordinates are at about the middle of the bridge site. They were taken off Mapmart's aerial imagery as degrees/minutes/seconds and converted to GPS on Topozone.

41° 26.35'N, 76° 42.70'W

PA/38-57-05x Bridge of Spooks- Two photos of the bridge in Souvenir of Hillsgrove, Valley of Dreams and Memories,a booklet published by Sullivan Review Print, Dushore, PA in 1934, show it to be a single span Burr Truss. Here was my source of confusion about the two bridges which actually stood next to each other; The railroad bridge was torn down in 1922, but the covered bridge lasted longer. There are at least 17 vertical posts, which would put the clear span in excess of 150'. It should be noted that the replacement bridge, a Parker Through Truss, is standing at the same site and is 191' long, with a 24' wide deck (Bridgehunter.com). The covered bridge was built in 1876 by John and Henry Hill and was condemned in August, 1934, then removed in 1935. Page 39 of the same booklet states: "The old wooden bridge was built in 1876 by John and Henry Hill. It was the third bridge built on the same foundation, the first falling in the creek, the second being torn down. Parts of the second bridge were used towards building the Elk Creek Bridge (PA/38-57-07x) which was also built in 1876 by the same contractors. The Elk Creek Bridge went down during the December flood thirty-five years later." (1911). It was located in Hillsgrove Township at the southwestern end of Hillsgrove on what is now Route 87, but was Route 291 when the bridge was still standing.

41° 26.36'N, 76° 42.73'W

LITTLE LOYALSOCK CREEK

PA/38-57-10x Big Bottom Bridge- Unknown dimensions and truss type, but as the stream is only about 60' wide in the area, it likely was a single span. It was located in Forks Township. The only online map that shows the site is the 1915 Type 10 map. In Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to April 16, 1939, the old road is visible, but the site appears to have been abandoned for some time. The present alignment of Loyalsock Avenue (Route 87- SR0087), built about 1932, no longer crosses the Little Loyalsock Creek at all in the area of the old site, but instead, follows the stream close to the northern bank. What is left of the old road, which dead ends short of the site, is called Yanney Road, but is not shown on any Type 10 map beyond 1915. Coordinates were gathered by comparing the Penn Pilot photo to Mapmart's black and white 1994 aerial imagery. They are close, but approximate.

41° 30.41'N, 76° 32.63'W

PA/38-57-11x Forksville 2 Bridge- Unknown dimensions and truss type, but the stream is scaling to about 85' on the Map 24 scale at the crossing point. The covered bridge was removed in 1930. In Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to May 1, 1939, the old road can clearly be seen on both sides of the stream leading up to the site. It was located in Forks Township in the town of Forksville about 1,300 feet north of the still extant Forksville Covered Bridge (PA/38-57-01). The current Parker through truss of 225', built in 1935 (Bridgehunter.com) angles across the stream, oriented east-northeast to west-southwest, whereas, the covered bridge was on a 90° skew to the stream, with the north end lining up approximately with the eastern abutment of the new bridge and the southern end lining up with Church Street, which has no numerical designation. This was the original crossing point for what is now Route 154, which was Route 291 when the bridge was still standing. Coordinates are at the old site.

41° 29.51'N, 76° 36.01'W

PA/38-57-16x Seemans Covered Bridge- Existence of this bridge comes courtesy of Linda Burns. It was found in a 1947 genealogy book from the Penn State University Library collection. Information on the location of the bridge is courtesy of Robert Sweeney, the Sullivan County, PA historian. This bridge stood near the location of the Seemans Hotel (formerly Schreyvogel Hotel) about two miles west of Lopez, PA. The current location is just north of the intersection of the Old Berwick Turnpike coming up from the south and State Route 1004 (Seemans Road). The exact date of loss for this bridge is unknown. The USGS Laporte Quadrangle, courtesy of: http://historical.mytopo.com/statemap.cfm?stateabr=PA shows the site has been abandoned since at least 1934. It was designed and erected by John Dieffenbacher (1813-1903). The bridge is near the "new" (1947) Red Rock Turnpike. You can see from the photo below that it is also a single span Town Truss style bridge. The biography of John Dieffenbacher, sixth son of Jacob and Christina (Gardner) Dieffenbacher, an early settler of Sulliver County, states that John designed and erected covered highway bridges and other types of bridges. Noteworthy ones included the Tar Bridge over Lopez Creek on the Lee Settlement Road and the Seemans Covered Bridge. Tar Bridge was the name of Lopez before it was incorporated in the 1880s. The Tar Bridge was a wooden bridge that got its name because it was coated with coal tar to protect the surfaces. It was not actually a covered bridge. The single span was supported by two built-up wooden beams about 8' high, encased in hemlock boards. The floor system was three by twelve stringers and a three-inch plank floor running with the road. It was a most unusual bridge design, but it carried the load. The bridge appears to have been oriented north-northeast to south-southwest in Cherry Township about 300 ft north of the intersection. Coordinates are close, but approximate.

41° 27.096'N, 76° 22.142'W

Seamans Covered Bridge
Located on the Schreyvogel/Seeman/Kachmarksy Property
West of Lopez, Sullivan County, PA
Photo courtesy of Linda Burns
Source: Thomas Pealer, Pealer-Wenner-Lawrence-Ladd-Dieffenbach Families, 1947

Bridge site in relation to Lopez. Site appears abandoned in this USGS topographic map

taken from the 1934 Laporte, PA Quadrangle. Image courtesy of Maptech at: http://historical.mytopo.com/statemap.cfm?stateabr=PA

The bridge site, taken from a Penn Pilot aerial photograph, dated April 24, 1939.

Courtesy of: http://www.pennpilot.psu.edu/index.html

MUNCY CREEK

Note: I can't tell if the center span below the train is wooden or iron.

PA/38-57- Nordmont Railroad Bridge- "The Muncy Creek Railroad, as the Williamsport and North Branch was originally called, was chartered with Michael Meylert, H.R. Mehrling, Robert Taylor, George Bodine and A.J. Dietrick as members of the corporation. Their purpose was to lay out and construct a railroad from Muncy, Lycoming County, to Laporte, via Muncy Creek. The first officers were: President, Michael Meylert; Treasurer, Joshua Bowman; Secretary, B. Morris Ellis; Superintendent, H.R. Mehrling. Muncy gave the new railroad very little encouragement and the western terminus was changed to Halls and the survey and work of construction began about 1866. The preliminary survey was made by Samuel Stevenson, assisted by B.L. Cheney. William A. Mason acted as chief engineer. In 1867, the rail line was completed to about three miles above Hughesville, or nine miles in all, with a very easy grade and at a proportionally slight expense, but the deep cuts and immense fills that would be necessary, before the rail line could reach Laporte, baffled the company and work was suspended. In 1872, a new organization was effected, but the railroad did not pay and it was sold in 1881. The new corporation changed the name of the railroad to Williamsport and North Branch Railroad and made Benjamin Welch general manager. Work on the railroad was resumed and in 1885, had reached six miles into Sullivan County. For a time, Sonestown was made the eastern terminus and in 1888, the rail line was completed into Nordmont." (Quoted text, courtesy of: http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/sullivancountyfolk/scf2/streby/DavidsonStreby.htm )

The bridge was built c.1888. It is not immediately known if the center span is wooden or wrought iron. In Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to April 24, 1939, there is nothing at the site. It was located between Davidson and Laporte Townships. Coordinates are close, but approximate. They were gathered by comparing the Penn Pilot photo to 1994 Mapmart aerial imagery, then converting the degrees/minutes/seconds to GPS on Topozone.

41° 22.63'N, 76° 28.21'W

Nordmont Railroad Bridge, courtesy of: http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/sullivancountyfolk/scf2/streby/DavidsonStreby.htm

Location courtesy of Penn Pilot, as there are several places it could have been.

PA/38-57-13x Nordmont Bridge- It was a single span Multiple Kingpost Truss, built in 1884. There are two dimensions in the original sources, 50' and 75'. The photo leans more towards the 75' length. In Penn Pilot aerial photography dated to April 24, 1939, the covered bridge is shown oriented north-northwest to south-southeast between Davidson and LaPorte Townships on SR2003, which was Route 154 on the 1941 Type 10 map, and Route 16 in former times. None of the mapping sources have the name of the road. The covered bridge was replaced in 1954 by the present bridge at about the same site.

41° 22.73'N, 76° 28.45'W

Nordmont Covered Bridge (PA/38-57-13x), courtesy of the What"s New Page for the Sullivan County Pennsylvania Genealogy Project at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/resources/whatsnew/what.html

PA/38-57-03 Sonestown / Davidson Bridge- It is a single span Burr Truss with a 99' clear span, an overall length of 110' and a 15' roadway. It was built c1850 and is located in Davidson Township on Champion Hill Road (T310). Current aerial imager shows that a 190' concrete bridge has been built about 500' downstream, which will likely bypass the covered bridge.

41° 20.77'N, 76° 33.31'W

Additional sources:

Covered Spans of Yesteryear

http://www.lostbridges.org/

Campbellville Pennsylvania history

http://www.campbellvillepa.com/

History of Sullivan County Pennsylvania by Thomas J. Ingham 1899

http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/sullivancountyfolk/scf2/streby/Ingham.htm

Souvenir of Hillsgrove Valley of Dreams and Memories

http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/SullivanCountyHistoricalSociety/HillsgroveSouvenir.htm

Sullivan County Pennsylvania Genealogy Page

http://www.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/

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