Covered Bridges and arsonists

Arson is the main reason so many historical covered bridges are no longer around. Arson ranks up there with the other devastating cause, Mother Nature. Now while there is nothing that can protect anything from Mother Nature, arson is very preventable. Why people burn things that aren't theirs is a mystery to everyone. The arsonists get nothing from burning a public structure, no insurance, nothing in return but they cause a lot of grief and cause communities and thousands of people a sense of loss.

There were several Covered Bridges in Pennsylvania that were destroyed by arson. In Adams County there was Conewago Chapel Covered bridge which was destroyed in June 14, 1985. This bridge was built in 1899. For 86 years people have used this bridge and many have admired it and photographed it. At almost 100 feet long, it didn't take long for it to go up in flames.

Another covered bridge that was destroyed was Ryot Covered bridge in Bedford County On August 14, 2002, this bridge was 71 feet long, and has been restored.

Bucks County, Pennsylvania has had more than one bridge damaged and destroyed by arson. Moods Covered bridge was destroyed on June 22, 2004. This was done by six men ages 21 and 21 burned the bridge. It has been reported that at 3:30am on the morning of June 22, 2004 the bridge was set afire. Moods Covered bridge is slated to be rebuilt in 2007. This is a huge task with the bridge that was built in 1874 is about 120 feet long.

Knecht's Covered Bridge has been the most recent Arson attempt. This is the second time that this bridge has been damaged by arson. The first time was in 2004. The damage was estimated at $70 thousand dollars. The second fire was started by 5 people. 3 of them were volunteer fire fighters for the county. The ages of these arsonists were between 17 and 19. Luckily this fire didn't do much damage. At one time Bucks County had 36 bridges. Now it only has 11 left standing. Every year they have fund raisers to raise money to protect and restore the bridges, unneeded expense of repairing a bridge that has been damaged due to arson, is never included in the budget.

Bucks County sadly lost several bridges that were burnt beyond repaid. Haupts Mill which was built in 1875 and was 107 feet long. This bridge was destroyed on January 14, 1985. It was never rebuilt, and Twining Ford or Scholfield Ford Bridge which was built in 1836 or 1873 (unsure of date) was burned beyond repair by an arsonist on October 7, 1991. This bridge was 166 feet long with 2 spans which equaled 155 feet.

Westmoreland County had a nice bridge Bell's Mill which survived an arson attempt. This bridge was built in 1850 and is 107 feet long. This bridge is a survivor, it survived fire and flooding. The fire was in 1980 the bridge has since been restored and is open to the public.

After the arson attempt Pennsylvania has introduced a bill that mandates a one year jail term for anyone attempting to burn a covered bridge or other historical building. This is a step in the right direction. Maybe next time before a historical building is set afire they will think before doing it.

While I have talked about several bridges that were damaged or destroyed by arson, there are many others that I haven't discussed. There were many in other states that are no longer around that I didn't talk about. But arson is a senseless act, burning a structure that is historical is so asinine. These bridges have been around for almost 100 years, some have been around for more than 100 years, and we can never replace them, or rebuild them back to original condition. Hopefully more states will be like Pennsylvania, and make the penalties more severe for people attempting to burn a bridge or any other historical structure.

Photos of these covered bridges, as well as other covered bridges can be found at FMY Photos. These photos have been restored from 35mm slides and now are online.