Barkhurst Mill Covered Bridge - Williams Covered Bridge, Chesterhill Ohio

Date added: June 24, 2023 Categories: Ohio Bridges Covered Bridges Multiple Kingpost Truss

Looking easterly at the side of the bridge (1998)

Of the 3,850 identified timber truss highway, canal and railroad bridges built in Ohio, by 1998 less than 4 percent, or 135 bridges, are extant and only 61 carry traffic. The Barkhurst Mill Covered Bridge, also known as Williams Covered Bridge, one of five covered bridges remaining in Morgan County and one of only three on its original site, exemplifies the multiple kingpost truss design covered bridge in Ohio. Barkhurst Mill Covered Bridge was built by John Shrake, one of Ohio's foremost bridge builders during the period from 1850-1875. Of the many covered bridges built by Shrake, only three are still standing, and only one of his designs, the Barkhurst Mill Bridge, is known to have been built in Morgan County.

Until the late 1940s, Morgan County had 15 covered bridges, but construction of Burr Oak Lake and surface coal mining have taken a toll on all but four covered bridges. Three of these spans, the Barkhurst Mill Covered Bridge, Helmick Mill Covered Bridge, and Adams Covered Bridge remain on their original sites. One other span, the Wolf Creek Covered Bridge was moved from Rosseau to the Morgan County Fairgrounds in 1953. Another covered bridge was moved from nearby Noble County to Campsite D on Brannon's Fork.

During the first half of the 19^th century, several truss designs were employed on Ohio's timber truss bridges. A truss is the arrangement of timber beams and braces, usually triangular in layout, that forms a rigid framework to support its own weight plus the load of the outer shell and the weight of the travelers. By far the most common of all wooden truss designs in Ohio, the multiple kingpost, became known across the state as the Buckingham truss, so named after Catherinus Buckingham, bridge builder and Adjutant General of Ohio. The multiple kingpost consisted of a series of vertical posts and braces and was developed for longer spans. Buckingham's Y Bridge at Zanesville (1832) was so widely admired that the truss became known as the Buckingham in honor of its builder.

Many Ohio bridge contractors emulated Buckingham's successful design, including John Shrake, the builder of the Barkhurst Mill Covered Bridge. Shrake, the founder of a family of bridge builders, is often cited in the bridge-building records of eastern and southeastern Ohio. Although it is known he built bridges as far west as Madison County and as far south as Washington County on the Ohio River, only three of Shrake's covered bridges are still standing. The Helmick Covered Bridge in Coshocton County, a two-span Buckingham truss, and the Waterloo/Shade Bridge in Fairfield County (1871, moved), also a multiple kingpost truss, are in good condition.

The old Barkhurst Mill or Williams Covered Bridge as it is known today, was built in 1872 by John Shrake at a cost of $8.69 per linear foot. The abutments were built by Elisha W. Kirby at a cost of $2.98 per perch of 24.75 cubic feet. Jonn Shrake was a builder of covered bridges in central and southeastern Ohio. Elisha Kirby was a resident of Morgan County. The bridge takes its name from the Barkhurst Mill, the remains of which are about 75 feet from the covered bridge on the north side of Wolf Creek. The mill is on the present property of Russell Williams, and the covered bridge is on a little-used township road. According to the 1875 Morgan County Atlas, J. Barkhurst owned the mill and a Mcinturf lived to the northwest of the mill and bridge. A Morgan County history written in 1886 described J. Barkhurst as a very highly respected businessman. Barkhurst's Mill was a gristmill and there also was a sawmill located on the south bank of Wolf Creek southwest of the covered bridge.

With the advent of modern transportation and new roads, the old Barkhurst Mill fell into disuse and some roads in the area were closed, leaving what had once been a busy milling center to be a rarely-visited place where few, outside of local residents, know of its existence. The Barkhurst Mill Covered Bridge is one of Ohio's most remote covered bridges, located in a picturesque setting on lovely Wolf Creek. The trail crosses the bridge and heads east along Wolf Creek. The fine old Barkhurst Bridge is a reminder of what life was like over 100 years ago in Morgan County, Ohio.

Bridge Description

The Barkhurst Mill Covered Bridge is a single-span wooden truss covered bridge that crosses over Wolf Creek in Marion Township, Section 4, two miles northeast of Chesterhill on Township Road 21. The bridge is open to traffic and carries about 10 vehicles per day across scenic Wolf Creek.

The site is extremely beautiful and peaceful and is near the remains of a mill to remind visitors of what was once a busy milling center. The Buckeye Trail crosses the bridge and heads east along the creek.

This bridge is known as the Barkhurst Mill or Williams Covered Bridge and was built in 1872. It is a 10-panel, single-span, multiple kingpost truss with added 3 ply wooden arches, projecting portals, vertical board siding, cut sandstone abutments, and a corrugated metal roof.

The overall length of the bridge is 92'6" with a truss length of 80'2". The roadway width is 12'3" and the overall width of the structure is 14'4". The siding is of random width boards and it appears that this siding once extended only three-quarters of the way up and later more boards were added to take the siding up to the eaves of the bridge. This modification was probably made when the arches were added which may have been around 1913. The floor system of horizontal planking is carried by iron rods extending from blocks of wood on the lower chords, running down and connected to the floor beams beneath the bridge. The bridge floor is in one layer, with the planks laid at right angles to the trusses. Steel rods run down the face of each abutment (2 rods each) and fasten into an eye-bolt in the abutment stones. These rods are bolted to blocks of wood that rest on the lower chords. This is obviously to keep the bridge in place in times of high water. A flash flood in June of 1950 moved the bridge some 14 inches off center and the county road crews moved the bridge back to its proper position. A concrete wing wall was added to the southwest corner of the south abutment probably also in 1950. The metal roof of the bridge was repaired by road crews after a heavy snowstorm flattened it in the winter of 1966. The siding of the bridge has never been painted and has weathered to a soft gray color. In 1996, extensive maintenance work was done to the bridge.

Steel supports were installed and creosoted end sills were placed under the bridge ends to replace rotted sills. The corrugated metal roof, not original to the bridge, was replaced with a new corrugated roof. The roof supporting structure of rafters and lath remained intact.