Everett Covered Bridge (Cuyahoga Valley National Park)

Everett Covered Bridge is located on Furnace Run west of the namesake community in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The structure is thought to have been originally built sometime between the 1870s and early 1880s. The span was swept away by floods in 1975 and was eventually rebuilt as a National Park Service project in 1986. The structure is the last Covered Bridge in Summit County and until recently served as the junction of several roads.

The history of Everett Covered Bridge

Everett Covered Bridge lies to the west of the namesake community and the Ohio & Erie Canal on Furnace Run. The exact date of construction of the structure is unknown but it is thought to have been built during the 1870s or early 1880s. The design of the bridge is based off the 1869 Smith Truss design.

Everett Covered Bridge can be seen along Everett Road (blue pin) at Furnace Run on the 1903 United States Geological Survey Map of Akron. The structure is shown to serve as the junction of Wheatly Road, Everett Road and Oak Hill Road.

Everett Covered Bridge was damaged by floods during in 1913. The then damaged structure can be seen prior to repairs in a National Park Service photo.

Everett Covered Bridge was damaged by a truck in 1970 but repaired. Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area was declared in December 1974 which brought the structure into scope of responsibility for the National Park Service. The bridge swept downstream by floods in 1975. Numerous local interests began raising funds to reconstruct the bridge. The reconstructed span was completed by the National Park Service in 1986 and reopened to traffic.

Everett Covered Bridge can be seen again functioning as the fork in Everett Road, Oak Hill Road and Wheatley Road on the 1994 United States Geological Survey map of Peninsula. During October 2000 Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area would become a National Park.

Portions Everett Road, Oak Hill Road and Meirs Road west of Furnace Run were recently closed to traffic. These segments of road have since been repurposed as the Riding Run Trail and Perkins Bridle Trail.

Part 2; a visit to Everett Covered Bridge

Everett Covered Bridge can be found by following Everett Road west of Riverview Road to a trailhead.

From the trailhead it is a short walk over the abandoned portion of Everett Road to the bridge.

West of Furnace Run the now overgrowing branch in Oak Hill Road (left) and Everett Road (right) can be seen.

The same junction during Fall 2014 before the asphalt had been removed.

East of Furnace Run the original beginning westbound Wheatley Road can be easily found.

Comments

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield. Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away. In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south. Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center. Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat. The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area. In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the stage for the decline of M

The National Road - Pennsylvania - Great Crossings Bridge and Somerfield

West of Addison, US 40 crosses the Youghiogheny River at what once was the town of Somerfield. When crossing the current modern two lane bridge, you many not realize that it is actually the third to cross the Yough at this site. The first - a stone arch bridge - was known as the Great Crossings Bridge. Built in 1818, this three arch bridge was part of the original National Road. The name Great Crossings comes from the men who forded the Youghiogheny here - George Washington and George Braddock. (1) If you cross the bridge at the right time, this historic bridge and what was once the town of Somerfield will appear out from underneath this massive man-made lake. Historical Postcard showing the 'Big Crossings' bridge and Somerfield. Image submitted by Vince Ferrari. The Great Crossings Bridge was located in the town of Somerfield. Somerfield, originally named Smythfield until 1827, would develop as a result of the National Road. (1) Somerfield would go through va