The Story of Bucks County's Covered Bridges
A project by The Mercer Museum of the Bucks County Historical SocietyThis digital project is a visual record of the county's current and past wooden Covered Bridges, which played a key role in the region's economy and development since the early 1800s. Read more About Us
Featured Stories
South Perkasie
The South Perkasie Covered Bridge is the oldest covered bridge in Bucks County and it is the county's most historic covered bridge for several reasons. The bridge is the third-oldest Town Lattice…
Frankenfield's
The origins of Frankenfield’s Bridge in Tinicum Township are a bit of a mystery. Today, it remains as one of the most remote Bucks County covered bridges.
In 1872, Bucks County advertised for a…
Pine Valley
The Pine Valley Covered Bridge celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2017. It is the second-oldest covered bridge in Bucks County, but it had to survive several scares to make it to that milestone.
More…
Recent Stories
The Delaware River Covered Bridge Network (1814-1945)
The first wooden covered bridges built in Bucks County bore little resemblance to the dozen that exists today. In January 1806, Theodore Burr’s Lower Trenton or Decatur Street opened for business. The wooden bridge extended for more than 1,000 feet…
The Rise and Fall of Local Covered Bridges (1820-1939)
While bridge building was taking place across the Delaware River, Bucks County officials started the process of adding smaller covered bridges on arterial roads that connected towns, and a series of bridges linked to mills and canals.
The first local…
Covered Bridges Become Icons (1940-1959)
After World War II, public and governmental attitudes toward covered bridges, especially in Bucks County, changed significantly. In 1943, Richard Sanders Allen began publishing the magazine Covered Bridge Topics, which led to the formation of the…
Recent Covered Bridge Preservation Efforts (1960-2019)
Bucks County would aggressively promote its covered bridges as part of a broader tourism strategy in the 1960s.
The state of Pennsylvania and the National Park Service also placed Bucks County’s covered bridges on the National Register of Historic…
Kratz's Mill (1848 - 1930)
Kratz's Mill Bridge in Bedminster Township was built in 1848 and demolished in 1930.
The original covered bridge sat on the current location of Route 113. It had two spans and it was built of oak.
According to a 1919 inspection report, the…
Stover-Myers Mill (1857-1906)
This covered bridge stood near the Stover-Myers Mill in Bedminster and Tinicum Townships and it spanned the Tohickon Creek.
The two-span bridge was 190 feet long. The Allentown Leader said that on April 26, 1906, a brush fire spread to the…