The view from the Dayton Art Institute is one of the finest in the city, but it has changed materially over the years, as is evidenced by this drawing made in the 1840s. The covered bridge, standing on the present site of the Dayton View bridge, was part of the scene when this sketch was made.
The story of the covered bridge is not altogether a narrative of the past. No one knows accurately just how many were standing at the peak of their use. One thing, however, is certain. There was a time when the entire New England countryside and a considerable portion of the rest of the country, was dotted with covered bridges. They crossed streams in twenty-six states. One reason why they were so widespread lay in the fact that when New Englanders, the first builders, moved west or south, they constructed the same type of bridge that they had known and found satisfactory back home.
The walls of covered bridges lent themselves only too well to the activities of the bill poster. Such posters as these extolled the virtues of the products they promoted in the days of the covered bridge.
One of the most zealous of the covered bridge historians has computed that there are still 2,000 of the old structures intact and still in use. Ohio ranks first with 592 bridges and Pennsylvania next with 336. Indiana has 202. Vermont with 200, has more covered bridges than all the other New England States combined. Massachusetts, where many of the earlier bridges were built, today has 26, while Connecticut is at the bottom of the list with only 7.
Of the 2,000 bridges still standing, many have unique names and associations. The second Lyman bridge, which replaced the “Inter-State Hold-Up,” was called the “Bridge of Spooks.” It was dimly lighted at night by swinging kerosene lamps. Children avoided it after sunset and grownups went through in a hurry.
One of the oldest and most noted of the covered bridges is Esperance bridge on the famous Mohawk Valley Turnpike on which all stagecoach traffic in and out of Albany, New York, traveled. The first bridge on this site was built in 1793 and was destroyed by a freshet. The present structure went up in 1811, the second to be erected by the State of New York. No covered bridge ever earned more money. The tolls by 1846 amounted to $1,000,000. More than 700 teams crossed in a single day. In view of its long and fruitful history New York has preserved the bridge as a state monument.
Most of the covered bridges are gone but they are not forgotten. Their distinct place in the category of early Americana is widely recognized. Many have become museum pieces. States and individuals are conserving them. Henry Ford’s collection of covered bridges at Dearborn, Michigan, is the largest in the country. The inclusion of a covered bridge in Carillon Park is recognition of its status in the evolution of American life.
