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Cynthiana Covered Bridge
Photos
Historic American Buildings Survey Theodore Webb, Photographer, Mar. 29, 1934 General View (South) (Looking North)
Photo taken by Theodore Webb for the Historic American Buildings Survey
View photos at Library of Congress
BH Photo #281331
Description
Built 1807-1808 by John Wallace, contractor, the bridge played an important part in General Morgan's raid on Cynthiana during the Civil War.
-- Historic American Buildings Survey
Facts
- Overview
- Lost Burr arch-truss bridge over South Fork Licking River on Bridge Street in Cynthiana.
- Location
- Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky
- Status
- Removed
- History
- Built 1808; Played important role in the raid on Cynthiana during Civil War; Removed 1948
- Builder
- - John Wallace (Contractor)
- Design
- Burr arch-truss
- Also called
- Bridge Street Covered Bridge
Paris Pike Covered Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +38.38779, -84.29878 (decimal degrees)
38°23'16" N, 84°17'56" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
- Approximate UTM coordinates
- 16/735925/4252297 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Shawhan
- Inventory numbers
- WGCB 17-49-05x (World Guide to Covered Bridges number)
BH 60620 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- February 27, 2022: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
- April 8, 2014: Added by Dave King
Sources
- Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
- HABS KY-20-20 - Covered Bridge, Spanning South Fork of Licking River, Cynthiana, Harrison County, KY
- Google books - Photos & info
- Geoff Hubbs
Cynthiana was not the oldest covered bridge in Kentucky at any point of its existence.
The 1807 bridge was an open span which had deteriorated and was replaced in the 18teens or 1820s. There was at least on additional open bridge at Cynthiana until construction of this bridge in 1837.
The construction of the Cynthiana covered bridge is attributed to Greenup Remington and this is reasonably well documented and considered fact. The plans were, purportedly, drawn by Lewis Wernwag. Wernwag was actively building covered bridges in Kentucky at the time of its construction which lends credence to this though no reliable documentation of a connection of the plans to Wernwag has been discovered.
The bridge was "recognized" as the "Oldest Covered Bridge In Kentucky" on the occasion of its one hundredth anniversary, though, at the time, at least two older covered bridges remained standing in the Commonwealth.
An interesting aside: There was a covered bridge at Cynthiana prior to the construction of this bridge. The court records were discovered some years ago by George Slade, a local historian, now deceased. It carried Pleasant Street some three blocks from the site of this bridge. It was built about 1826 and was destroyed in a flood after just a few years of service. There was no bridge at the Pleasant Street site until about 1904 when the iron truss, itself replaced about 1942, was constructed.