More than just relics of a bygone era, covered bridges enjoy a cherished place in the public imagination and a distinctive niche in northeastern America's regional lore and architectural history. Once, 250 covered bridges dotted the landscape of New York State. But natural disaster and human progress exacted a price, leaving only twenty-four historic bridges intact. Here is the first detailed guide to these structures, many of which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Completed between 1854 and 1912, they represent a wide variety of designs—from timber and truss constructs to odd windows and walls painted in the style of an "old red barn." Rick L. Berfield offers an evocative look at how covered bridges came into existence and explores fully the colorful and arcane customs they inspired. "Kissing bridges," for example, offered seclusion for sweethearts. Toll bridges appeared on an emerging turnpike system. Baptisms and weddings were conducted on those veritable platforms, which were also favored haunts for traveling sales personnel. Brilliant color photos, driving instructions, and statistics with accompanying map make this both a practical and appealing reference, practical and appealing reference, a work that will interest both the devotee and general reader alike.

At one time, New York State had over 300 covered bridges, but over the years, floods, fires, and modernization have claimed all but 32 of them. Both the Hyde Hall Covered Bridge and the Old Blenheim Bridge are proud record holders. Located in Glimmerglass State Park, the Hyde Hall Covered Bridge is the oldest existing covered bridge in the United States. The Old Blenheim Bridge was the longest single-span covered bridge in the world until it was washed away by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 when the Schoharie Creek flooded. Today, Oxford, New York, is home to the Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center, which was specifically designed for covered bridge researchers--the first-ever center of its kind.

New York State's Covered Bridges explores the old timbered spans that crossed New York waters. The state at one time had more than two hundred fifty such bridges; today, it has only twenty four original covered bridges remaining, plus some replicas. Vintage postcards, many of which are extremely rare, bring back into view the old ones, beginning with the first built in 1807, and ending with those of the mid-1900s.

A complete guide to more than 200 covered bridges in the six New England states.

A richly detailed account of bridge builders, the tools they used, and their finished masterpieces, this profusely illustrated work describes foot bridges, latticework and double-decked structures, drawbridges, and more. Filled with information on bridge locations, lengths of spans, and other data, this priceless tribute to a bygone era. 150 black-and-white illustrations.

Sportsman's Connection's Eastern New York All-Outdoors Atlas & Field Guide contains maps created at twice the scale of other road atlases, which means double the detail. And while the maps are sure to be the finest quality you have ever used, the thing that makes this book unique is all the additional information. Your favorite outdoor activities including fishing lakes and streams, hunting, camping, hiking and biking,snowmobiling and off-roading, paddeling, skiing, golfing and wildlife viewing are covered in great depth with helpful editorial and extensive tables, which are all cross-referenced and indexed to the map pages in a way that's fun and easy to use.

This book invites the reader to step back in time and imagine the days when ancestors traveled through wooden spans to reach their daily destinations. Starting in the early 1800s, Pennsylvania's rich forests provided natural material for the construction of more than 1,500 covered bridges across the state. The first covered bridge was built in 1805. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges looks at the earliest covered bridges as well as those that have survived modern progress. Images also show rare railroad covered bridges that have been saved from destruction over the years.

Covered Bridges are historic pieces of American and Canadian rural history, gracing the countryside from Oregon to Tennessee and from California to New Brunswick and across Canada. In this lavishly illustrated volume Joseph D. Conwill recounts the rich, romantic history of covered bridges as they developed from early timber bridges, born out of the traditions of Medieval times, into modernized structures designed for the motorized traffic of the early twentieth century. Reflecting on the efforts to keep covered bridges in service as the face of the rural landscape is transformed, and the challenge of preserving their historic character while making them safe for modern traffic, Conwill guides the reader across the diverse range of covered bridges to be found throughout the North America.

As many as 15,000 covered bridges were built in North America over the past 200 years. Fewer than 1,000 remain. In America's Covered Bridges, authors Terry E. Miller and Ronald G. Knapp tell the fascinating story of these bridges, how they were built, the technological breakthroughs required to construct them and above all the dedication and skill of their builders. Each wooden bridge, whether still standing or long gone, has a story to tell about the nature of America at the time--not only about its transportational needs, but the availability of materials and the technological prowess of the people who built it. Illustrated with some 550 historical and contemporary photos, paintings, and technical drawings of nearly 400 different covered bridges, America's Covered Bridges offers five readable chapters on the history, design and fate of America's covered bridges, plus related bridges in Canada. Most of the contemporary photography is by master photographer A. Chester Ong of Hong Kong. 55 photo essays on the most iconic bridges including: Cornish-Windsor Bridge between Vermont and New Hampshire Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Maine East Paden and West Paden (Twin Bridges), Pennsylvania Philippi Bridge, West Virginia Hortons Mill Bridge, Alabama Medora Bridge, Indiana Rock Mill Bridge, Ohio Knight's Ferry Bridge, California Perrault Bridge, Quebec, Canada Hartland Bridge, New Brunswick, Canada Over time, wooden bridges eventually gave way to ones made of iron, steel and concrete. An American icon, many covered bridges became obsolete and were replaced—others simply decayed and collapsed. Many more were swept away by natural disasters and fires. America's Covered Bridges is absolutely packed with fascinating stories and information passionately told by two leading experts on this subject. The book will be of tremendous interest to anyone interested in American history, carpentry and technological change.