Longwood Covered Bridge, Connersville Indiana
The Longwood Covered Bridge is of transportation and engineering significance because it is the last remaining covered bridge in Fayette County of the original five. The bridge spans Williams Creek on County Road 75 North, 3.7 miles west of Connersville. Built in 1884 by the Kennedy Brothers, the Longwood Covered Bridge was built during the peak production years for the building of Kennedy bridges. Of the 58 or more bridges built by the Kennedys, only 13 remain standing. According to George Gould, Indiana Covered Bridges Thru The Years, the Longwood Covered Bridge has a truss design that is unusual for the Burr arch, with two kingposts placed 10 feet apart as in the queenpost arrangement.
In 1983 the bridge was dismantled and moved to Robert Park in Connersville Indiana. The move was completed in 1986.
Bridge Description
The Longwood Covered Bridge is a single span, wooden structure of Burr Arch truss construction. It spans Williams Creek approximately 3.7 miles west of Connersville, Indiana, on County Road 75 North. The bridge was built in 1884 by Emmett and Charles Kennedy, sons of Archibald M. Kennedy, of the Kennedy bridge building family of Rush County, Indiana.
The entire Longwood structure is 97 feet in length; the span of the bridge is 91 feet in length with 3 additional feet of overhang at each end. The width of the wooden deck is 14.5 feet; the vertical clearance over the deck is 12 feet and 11 inches in height. According to George Gould, Indiana Covered Bridges Thru The Years, the Longwood Covered Bridge has an unusual truss design because it uses 2 kingposts placed 10 feet apart (as in the queenpost arrangement), instead of the multiple kingpost arrangement most often used with the Burr arch. The Longwood Bridge has five panels on each side of the center, and the burr arch. The bridge is supported by stone abutments at both ends.
In order to protect the wooden truss members, the bridge is covered by a gabled roof. Vertical members, attached directly to the exterior of the truss members, support wooden board siding, laid horizontally along the length of the bridge. Most of the siding along the bottom two-thirds of the bridge is missing. The gable ends of the bridge are covered with vertical board and batten siding. The portals of the bridge have round-arched openings, supported by decorated knee bracing. Carved wooden scrollwork extends from the knee brace to the cornice on either side of the portal. Pairs of carved brackets on the cornice help to support the roof ends. Above the portal and below the cornice, the words "Kennedy Bros" identify the structure as a Kennedy Brothers bridge. The structure is covered by a gabled, tin roof which covers wood shingles underneath.
