Philippi Covered Bridge

Philippi Covered Bridge
The bridge as it appears since its 1991 reconstruction. The neighborhood of North Philippi is visible beyond.
Philippi Covered Bridge is located in West Virginia
Philippi Covered Bridge
Philippi Covered Bridge is located in the United States
Philippi Covered Bridge
LocationU.S. 250 at jct. with U.S. 119, Philippi, West Virginia
Coordinates39°9′11″N 80°2′37″W / 39.15306°N 80.04361°W / 39.15306; -80.04361
Arealess than one acre
Built1852
ArchitectChenoweth, Lemuel
MPSWest Virginia Covered Bridges TR
NRHP reference No.72001284 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 14, 1972
The Philippi Covered Bridge (northeast end) as it appeared ca. 1899.
The Philippi Covered Bridge, circa 1970.
The Philippi Covered Bridge in 2015.

The Philippi Covered Bridge, on the Tygart Valley River, is the main local landmark and historical icon of Philippi, West Virginia, USA.

The celebrated bridge was commissioned by the General Assembly of Virginia and constructed in 1852 by Lemuel Chenoweth, a well-known Appalachian bridge builder, to provide a link on an important segment of the vital Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike between Beverly (Chenoweth's hometown) and Fairmont.[2] The bridge has strong associations with the American Civil War, especially the Battle of Philippi (1861).

The Philippi Covered Bridge is the oldest[3] and longest covered bridge in West Virginia and one of only two remaining in Barbour County. It is also the only covered bridge on the United States Numbered Highway System (as part of U.S. Route 250). It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ Covered Bridges in West Virginia, Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archeology, Morgantown, West Virginia.
  3. ^ Adkins, Leonard M. (May 2, 2011). Explorer's Guide West Virginia (Second ed.). The Countryman Press. p. 27. ISBN 9781581579260. Retrieved 7 July 2013.