Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge, Salem Ohio

Date added: November 30, 2023 Categories: Ohio Bridges Covered Bridges Multiple Kingpost Truss

Of the 3,850 identified timber truss canal, railroad and vehicular bridges known to have been built in Ohio, as of the year 2000, less than 4 percent, or 135 bridges are extant, and of these, only 61 are still in service. Columbiana County holds the distinction of once having the most covered bridges in the state, an estimated 150 spans. The Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge is one of five covered bridges remaining in Columbiana County, and is one of only two on its original site.

Americans began building covered bridges after the Revolutionary War. Early builders were mostly farmers who were also skilled woodsmen. They built the covered bridges similar to their barns, simple, yet strong with heavy timbers. Using basic hand tools, it took a crew of 6 builders approximately 5 to 6 weeks to build a 60' structure. The first covered bridges appearing in Ohio were largely designed and built by trial and error since little was known about their structural analysis. 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 exterior boards and the weight of the travelers. The most common of these designs used in Ohio was the multiple kingpost truss, also known as the Buckingham truss, so named after Catherinus Buckingham, a 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 a Buckingham in honor of its builder.

Of the five remaining covered bridges in Columbiana County none are currently open to traffic. One is abandoned, two have been moved to parks, and another, "The Shortest Covered Bridge in the U.S." was moved to Elkton by the Elkton Historical Society. The Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge, was built towards the end of 1875. It was an important part of a small community that grew up around this site known as Teegarden Station, founded by Prussian immigrants in the early 1800s. Journal entries for 1875 and 1876 state "June 2, let the building of a covered bridge in Salem Twp. to J. C. Mountz @ $441." A subsequent entry stated, "Nov. 15 Examined covered bridge at Teegarden's Mill in Salem Twp. built by J. C. Mountz. Order in full for $441." On December 6, 1875, a contract for $30 to paint the bridge was let to George W. Akin, and by February 1876 the bridge was completed (Commissioner's Journal, 1875-1876).

Jeremiah C. Mountz appears to have garnered most of Columbiana County's covered bridge work during the immediate post-Civil War period. Born in 1839, he enjoyed a dual career as a farmer and for 47 years as a carpenter, building covered bridges and assisting in the construction of the North Georgetown Lutheran Church. For many years Mountz and his wife, Catherine Hocker Mountz operated the Pine Tar Farm in Butler Township, Columbiana County.

Near the bridge site at different periods in time was a sawmill, a gristmill, and a post office, and just to the south were coal and iron mines. All but the foundations of the former have been erased with time. The covered bridge was also located close to a line of the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. The bridge is one of only two that remain on their original site in Columbiana County. It is the last covered bridge over the Middle Fork of the Little Beaver Creek.

Bridge Description

The Teegarden-Centennial Covered Bridge is a single-span wooden truss covered bridge located beside Eagleton Glenn Park, a city park, approximately four miles south of the city of Salem, Ohio. The bridge is on Eagleton Road, T-761 approximately 500' southeast of C-411 and crosses over the Middle Fork of Little Beaver Creek in Salem Township, Section 32. The site is a beautiful woodland setting close to "Teegarden Mill" which stood until 1904 just north of the bridge and the "Lewis Coal & Iron Mines" located to the south. The old railroad bed, which lies approximately 400' south of the covered bridge is now part of the Greenway Bike Trail.

This bridge was built in 1875-76. It is an 8-panel, single-span, multiple kingpost truss. The overall length is 67' with a clear span of 63'. The roadway width is 11'- 4" by 10' high. It has vertical board, random width siding that extends from the bottom of the lower chord up to within 12" of the eaves, cut sandstone abutments and a wood shingle roof. The joists run transversely with a single-layer plank floor running longitudinally. The extended portal at the south end of the bridge has lettering that reads "Centennial Bridge" on the north portal the lettering reads "Buy Your Drugs of C. R. Phillips".

The bridge was in use daily from the time it was completed in 1876 until 1992 when it was bypassed immediately to the west by a more modern concrete deck span.

Alterations to the bridge include:

Concrete facing, four feet high, was added to the lower portion of the north abutment in order to protect and reinforce against stream erosion, 1940s.

Four vertical steel rods connected to the top and bottom chords near the south end of the bridge. Small steel plates were added to the top chords near the south end of the bridge, date unknown. Steel plates were added to the lower chord, west side, near the south abutment for reinforcement due to a crack, in 1987.

Riprap was extended to the north abutment from the new bridge constructed alongside the covered bridge in 1992.

Knee braces were added to the south abutment to help support the deteriorating ends of the lower chord, date unknown.