Byer Covered Bridge, Byer Ohio
The Village of Byer and its covered bridge lie on the banks of Pigeon Creek within the Wayne National Forest and bounded on the west and southeast by the Richland State Forest. This was part of the old Hanging Rock Iron Region and just about 3 miles northeast of Byer are the remains of old Richland Iron Furnace. This is also an area of colorful place names such as Buttermilk Hollow, Log Pile Hollow, Skunk Hollow, and Tick Ridge. Prior to Civil War days, the village of Byer was known as Ellsworth and the name was changed to Byers in honor of the Byers Family who owned much land in town. Over the years, the name has been simplified to Byer. Byer Covered Bridge was built in the early 1870s, probably by the Smith Bridge Company. One source says that the builder was W. H. Connery. If this was so, then it would have been under the direct supervision of the Smith Bridge Company who often prefabricated their bridge trusses and shipped them by railroad to the building site. There was a Smith Bridge Company representative in Portsmouth and this may account for the fact that all the covered bridges of record in Jackson County were Smith trusses. Robert W. Smith is one of only two Ohioans ever to be given a patent on wooden bridge trusses. Hundreds of Smith trusses were built here in Ohio and elsewhere in the country. Fifteen remain in Ohio today.
In 1934, the State Highway Department took over the road through Byer and it became SR 327. In the late 1930's, the State Highway Department rerouted SR 327 around Byer to the north and east and the covered bridge became a part of the Jackson County road system again. Byer Bridge is in a historically and industrially interesting section of the state. The old bridge was built when coal was king in Jackson County. Richland Iron Furnace a few miles away was still in operation at the time. Three miles southwest of Byer is Leo Petroglyph State Memorial, a group of prehistoric Indian rock carvings. Byer is a small, quiet residential community where most of the houses are painted white. Byer Covered Bridge, also painted white, is an important part of the community. It is one of only three such spans left in Jackson County.
Bridge Description
The Byer Covered Bridge is a one-span wooden truss covered bridge spanning Pigeon Creek at Byer in Washington Township sections 7-8 on County Road 31 in Jackson County, Ohio. This old bridge has vertical, high-boarded siding, a sheet metal roof, concrete abutments, and projected portals.
It was built in the early 1870s on the Smith truss plan patented in 1867 and 1869 by Robert W. Smith of Tipp City, later Toledo, Ohio. The 1869 patent, #97,714, was an improvement on the 1867 patent. It featured an open center panel and braces set at a 45° angle between 60° counterbraces. Bridge truss expert Raymond E. Wilson in the April 1967 Covered Bridge Topics Magazine has divided the Smith truss into four types and the Byer Bridge is a Smith truss, type 3. A type 3 Smith truss features reinforcement of the center panel with 2 diagonals. All Smith truss types feature rigidly fastened roof and floor stringers. Mr. Smith claimed that the advantages of his truss type were to be found in the method of bracing, equal distribution of the load, its lightness, and cheapness. The Byer Bridge is a 7-panel Smith with a 74' floor length and an overall length of 82'. The overall width is 17'4" and the roadway width is 13'8". The floor is made up of 3" planks of untreated oak laid diagonally. All truss members are single timbers except for the upper and lower chords which are in 3 pieces. The truss members measure from 7½" x 6" to 8" x 8".
The condition of the Byer Bridge is good. It is painted white both inside and out. The concrete abutments are undoubtedly not the original foundations of the bridge, but were there when the State Highway Department took over the road and bridge in 1934.
South portal, looking north (1975)
