Cogan House Covered Bridge - History - Background

Background

The first covered bridge in the United States was built over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1800. Some of the first Burr arch truss covered bridges were also built in the state. Pennsylvania is estimated to have once had at least 1,500 covered bridges, and is believed to have had the most in the country between 1830 and 1875. In 2001 Pennsylvania had more surviving historic covered bridges than any other state, with 221 remaining in 40 of the commonwealth's 67 counties.

Covered bridges were a transition between stone and cast-iron and steel bridges. In 19th-century Pennsylvania, lumber was an abundant resource for bridge construction, but did not last long when exposed to weather and the elements. The roof and enclosed sides of covered bridges protected the structural elements, allowing some of these bridges to survive well over a century. A Burr arch truss consists of a load-bearing arch sandwiching multiple King posts, resulting in a bridge which is both stronger and more rigid than one built using either element alone.

In 1850 a plank road was built in Lycoming County, from the mouth of Larrys Creek to the borough of Salladasburg, Pennsylvania. It was later extended north along the Second Fork of Larrys Creek as far as the unincorporated villages of Brookside and White Pine in Cogan House Township, and eventually went as far as the large tannery in the village of English Center in Pine Township on Little Pine Creek. Another branch of the plank road followed Larrys Creek itself north from Salladasburg. While its exact length is unknown, Landis reports it may have reached nearly to the site of the covered bridge.

Before there was a bridge, there was a ford at the site where the bridge was later built. Wagons of finished leather and raw hides came from and went to the English Center tannery via White Pine, seeking to avoid traffic on the plank road along the Second Fork. Other traffic went to and from a large sawmill at White Pine and other mills to the west and north. Traffic from the north crossed Larrys Creek, and continued either east over Buckhorn Mountain to the Williamsport and Elmira Railroad at the village of Cogan Station on Lycoming Creek, or south down the road along Larrys Creek. This road led to a tannery on Larrys Creek about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the ford, and to the plank road along the main branch of the creek. The plank road was a toll road and connected with another railroad, the West Branch Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, and the West Branch Susquehanna River at the creek's mouth.

Because the ford was often impassable in winter or bad weather, or during high water, a petition from the citizens of Cogan House Township for a bridge to be built was filed in September 1876. They asked the county to build the bridge as it was beyond the resources of the township to do so. The petition was read on September 30, 1876, and three viewers were appointed on November 3 to examine the site and report back. The viewers reported back in favor of building the bridge on November 25. On January 23, 1877, the county grand jury approved the report and the construction of the bridge.