As a research-focused organization, the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center aims to provide the most useful, accurate, and comprehensive information. While we have our own extensive library of covered bridge research materials, there is much more to learn from other organizations and collections as well. Below you will find links to other sites containing helpful information on covered bridges.
Covered Bridge Societies
Covered bridge enthusiasts throughout the country have come together to create societies for the purposes of research, preservation, communication, and fun. Below are the websites for these state and national societies.
- National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges
- Vermont Covered Bridge Society
- The Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society of Pennsylvania
- New York State Covered Bridge Society
- Indiana Covered Bridge Society
- Ohio Historic Bridge Association
- Covered Bridges Conservation Association of New Brunswick
State Specific Websites
Foreign Covered Bridge Sites
History
Covered bridges are reminders of our past. With many still standing from the 19th and 20th centuries, covered bridges carry with them important pieces of American history. For more on this history, see the resources below.
- Covered Spans of Yesteryear
- Covered Bridges and the Birth of American Engineering book
- Ancestral Findings: The History of Covered Bridges in America
- Britannica: covered bridge
- The covered bridge photographs around the United States of Traugott F. Keller Jr.
- U.S. Department of Transportation: Ohio’s Vanishing Covered Bridges
- News10: The history of covered bridges in New York, Vermont
- New Hampshire Folklife: Covered Bridges
- Covered Bridges of New Hampshire
Bridge Design and Terminology
Covered bridges are constructed through time-honored engineering and design techniques, some of which date back to the Middle Ages. Trusses and arches are the engineering designs that keep bridges standing throughout use and decay. See below for a comprehensive list of these designs, as well as a glossary of bridge components and terms.
Finding Covered Bridges
If you are traveling and looking to find covered bridges in your area, the links below are available to guide you. These sites contain maps and lists of covered bridges in the U.S. and Canada still standing today.
- Covered Bridges in the US and Canada
- Round Barns and Covered Bridges
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National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges Database
(Registration required through National Society) For members, there is an associated phone app which is helpful when traveling. It has a map that can show covered bridges near your current location.
Other Covered Bridge Facts and Research Materials
These resources contain additional covered bridge information for both experts and newcomers.