Palos Covered Bridge, Glouster Ohio
The Palos Covered Bridge has been a landmark for travelers along SR 13 for many years now. The name Palos, a Greek word, comes from the tiny crossroads community of that name about a mile to the north of the bridge. Palos is almost non-existent today, but it is still marked on the county maps. There were many of these tiny "Whistle Stops" on the railroads in the early days of Ohio and only the name remains for most of them today. Because of its proximity to SR 13 and Burr Oak Lake, this old covered bridge is well-known to tourists.
We have no building date on this old bridge, but we do know that the road it serves is not shown in the county atlas for 1875. Therefore, it is probably a product of the late 1870s or early 1880s.
Athens County keeps the bridge well-maintained. It is an attractive bridge with its deep red paint on both siding and portals. It still serves daily traffic and is a visual reminder of the past.
Bridge Description
The Palos Bridge is a one-span wooden truss covered bridge spanning the east fork of Sunday Greek in section 11 of Trimble Township, on township road 37 just east of SR 13, one mile north of Glouster, Ohio, in Athens County. This old span has vertical, high-boarded siding, a metal roof, cut-stone abutments, and slightly projected portals.
The Bridge was built on the multiple kingpost truss plan. The kingpost truss is the earliest known wooden bridge truss and it makes use of the triangular form where the truss upright or vertical member is in tension, and the truss diagonals are in compression. The multiple kingpost is a development of the simple, single kingpost where a longer bridge was needed to span a stream that could not be built with just a simple kingpost. This was the most common bridge truss built in Ohio. The Palos Bridge is a 10-panel modified multiple kingpost. These modifications are undoubtedly a later addition and consist of vertical iron rods on the kingposts near the ends of the bridge where the tension is greatest and wooden counterbraces added in to make X panels in the center of the bridge where compression is greater. The length of the bridge is 81' overall with a clear span of 72' 10". The roadway width is 12' 1" and the overall width of the structure is l4' 3". Height of the trusses is 12' 7" and the overhead clearance is 11' 10". Flooring is laid crosswise with raised runners the length of the bridge.
The old Palos Covered Bridge is painted a deep red on both siding and portals. The present metal roof is a replacement for one that blew off in a windstorm in 1960. In 1971, the county placed a steel substructure under the bridge. The abutments are the original cut-stone. The siding was replaced in 1975.
View of bridge looking south (1976)
