Root Covered Bridge
Constructed with weatherboarded walls on stone abutments and equipped with a metal roof and elements of iron and steel, the Root Bridge was named for the nearby community of Root Town, which has since become a ghost town. Its builders were Charles and Alta Meredith, who built many other Washington County bridges; two other bridges in the county, known as the Hune and the Harra Covered Bridges, also employ the Long truss. It is believed that the Meredith family heavily favored the style, because they were responsible for building both of those bridges. Throughout Ohio, only eight Long truss bridges are in existence today; the majority of Ohio's Long truss bridges are located in southern Ohio. Besides the importance of the Meredith family, this concentration is also likely due to the presence of one of the designer's agents in the region, who also functioned as a general contractor for bridge construction in southern Ohio.
In early 1975, the Root Covered Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying because of its importance as a well-preserved example of historic engineering methods. It was the first Washington County covered bridge to be listed on the Register, although five others — including the Harra and Hune bridges — have since received the same designation.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ DeLorme. Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer. 7th ed. Yarmouth: DeLorme, 2004, 81. ISBN 0-89933-281-1.
- ^ Moore, Elma Lee. Ohio's Covered Bridges. Charleston: Arcadia, 2010, 117.
- ^ Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999.
- ^ Root Covered Bridge, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2011-03-12.
- ^ Covered Bridges of Washington County, Marietta & Washington County Convention & Visitors Bureau, n.d. Accessed 2011-03-12.
External links
Media related to Root Covered Bridge at Wikimedia Commons