Skip to main content

Ackley Covered Bridge

By


Ackley Covered Bridge is span currently located in Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. This span was originally located on Wheeling Creek near West Finnley, Pennsylvania.
Ackley Covered Bridge was constructed in 1832 and is thought to be the oldest remaining multiple kingpost bridge in the United States. The structure was donated to Henry Ford in 1937 when it was in the process of being replaced. The structure was rebuilt at Greenfield Village and dedicated during July 1938.




Part 1; the history of Ackley Covered Bridge

Ackley Covered Bridge is thought to be the oldest surviving example of a multiple kingpost bridge in the United States. The bridge consists of a series of upright wooden posts with inclined braces at either end and which lean towards the center "kingpost."

Ackley Covered Bridge was constructed near West Finley, Pennsylvania at Wheeling Creek along what is now Finley Road. Said creek serves as the Washington/Green County line. The structure was intended to replace an earlier swinging footbridge present at the site. The Ackley Family donated land for construction and over one hundred locals worked to construct the eighty-foot-long structure.

The site of Ackley Covered Bridge (blue dot) can be seen on the 1905 United States Geological Survey map of Rogersville, Pennsylvania.


The roof of the Ackley Covered Bridge was replaced in 1860, 1890 and 1920. During 1937 plans were put in place to construct a concrete highway bridge at Wheeling Creek. West Finley community members petitioned Henry Ford to purchase and relocate the covered bridge to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford sent representatives to survey and photograph the structure as seen below in a 1937 Ford Motor Company Engineering Photographic Department photo.


The dismantling of Ackley Covered Bridge took place during December 1937. The structure was shipped to Greenfield Village and reassembled. The reconstructed bridge was dedicated on July 2, 1938. The dedication ceremony can be seen in a Ford Motor Company Engineering Photographic Department photo.



Part 2; a visit to the Ackley Covered Bridge

Ackley Covered Bridge is presently located in Greenfield Village Historic District Number 7 (Porches & Parlors).


A plaque briefing the history of Ackley Covered Bridge.


Various Model Ts crossing the Ackley Covered Bridge.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

By
The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high
2 comments
Read more

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

By
When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba
Post a Comment
Read more

Mines Road

By
Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County.  The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte.  The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom.  Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail).  La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora.  The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre
Post a Comment
Read more