Cynthiana Covered Bridge 17-49-05x

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.