A symbol of Indiana's past, the covered bridge still evokes feelings of nostalgia, romance, and even mystery. During the 19th century, over 500 of these handsome structures spanned the streams, rivers, and ravines of Indiana. Plagued by floods, fire, storms, neglect, and arson, today fewer than 100 remain. Marsha Williamson Mohr's photographs capture the timeless and simple beauty of these well-traveled structures from around the state, including Parke County—the unofficial covered bridge capital of the world. With 105 color photographs, Indiana's Covered Bridges will appeal to everyone who treasures Indiana's rich architectural heritage.

The covered bridge has long been a symbol of Indiana's past, evoking feelings of romance and nostalgia. These feats of engineering span the rivers and streams that crisscross the county. Jeremy Boshears' photographs capture the beauty of the bridges dotting the riverbanks of Monroe County. With 121 color photographs, The Covered Bridges of Monroe County will appeal to everyone who treasures these iconic structures.

With its beautiful meadows and countless meandering streams, picturesque Parke County, Indiana, is home to 31 historic covered bridges, ranging from 43 to 315 feet long. Every October, the county hosts the Covered Bridge Festival, which draws more than two million people nationwide to the courthouse lawn in Rockville. From there, tourists set off to visit the bridges and Billy Creek Village, and to seek out the arts and crafts fairs located in each of the festival's nine communities. Photographer Marsha Williamson Mohr has spent years in the area, capturing spellbinding images of the bridges and nearby farms and the natural beauty of the area, season by season. The warmth and vitality of Parke County brings her back time and time again, and this gorgeous photographic collection will call you back as well.

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.

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.

Rugged individuals armed with hand tools, sweat, and ambition began building covered bridges in Oregon during the mid-1850s. These bridge builders often camped out at remote sites, living off the land or contracting with local farmers for food. Early owners of covered bridges financed construction by charging tolls3 for a sheep, 5 for a horse and rider, and 10 for a team of horses and wagon. In the early 20th century, the state provided standard bridge and truss designs to each county, and most of the resulting structures incorporated the Howe truss. With the abundance of Douglas fir and the shortage of steel during the world wars, the construction of wooden covered bridges continued well into the 1950s, mainly in the Willamette Valley. During the 1920s, Oregon boasted more than 350 covered bridges.

Maine once had more than one hundred covered bridges. Only seven of these bridges remain today, but the photographic record of the others is surprisingly complete. Maine's Covered Bridges offers views of these structures that once graced the state's roads and railroads, many of them in the Oxford Hills and Western Mountains regions. All of Maine's major rivers-the Saco, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Penobscot, and Aroostook-and even smaller rivers-including the Presumpscot, Ossipee, Little Androscoggin, Ellis, Sandy, Piscataquis, Narraguagus, and St. Croix-had a covered bridge.