Kidwell Covered Bridge, Truetown Ohio
The Kidwell Covered Bridge was built in 1880 to replace an earlier bridge that had washed out in a flood. It is not known if this earlier bridge was covered. The name Kidwell comes from the Kidwell Family who operated the Kidwell Grist and Saw Mills on the west bank of Sunday Creek about one-quarter of a mile north of the bridge site. These mills were built in 1839 by William Kidwell and were still in operation in 1875 as they are shown in the county atlas of that year. One-half mile east of the bridge was the old Weethee College, a small academy founded in 1865 by J. P. Weethee who was a doctor, minister and teacher, and son of one of the early pioneer families in this area. The Weethee Family owned nearly 600 acres in this vicinity. Rev. Weethee's academy was never very large, but was still in operation in 1883. Kidwell Covered Bridge is on Monsrat Road, named for Nicholas Montserrat who owned and operated the Montserrat Coal Mine near the covered bridge. Another name associated with this vicinity and the bridge is True, an early family for whom the small community of Truetown is named. Austin True owned some 300 acres near the bridge site in the 1870s. Although the mills, college, and coal mine no longer operate near the bridge, heavy traffic still flows across it because the relocation of SR 13 has made Monsrat Road a connecting road between SR 13 and 685.
Bridge Description
Kidwell Covered Bridge is a one-span wooden truss covered bridge spanning Sunday Creek in Dover Township section 18 on Monsrat Road (Twp. road 583) one mile north of Truetown, Athens County, Ohio. This span has vertical, high-boarded siding, a metal roof, cut-stone abutments, and straight portals, sharply cut back at the base.
It was built in 1880 on the Howe truss plan patented in 1840 by William Howe of Spencer, Mass. The Howe truss was considered to be a bridge engineering advance because it made use of iron tension rods for the truss verticals instead of wood. These iron tension rods can be tightened up if necessary to straighten and strengthen the bridges. The railroads quickly grasped the significance of this and made great use of the Howe truss for many years. The Howe truss, with its braces and counterbraces of wood and its iron tension rods, was also a favorite with many bridge builders for highway use. The Kidwell Covered Bridge is a 10-panel Howe truss, 95' 8" long with a 4' 7" overhang on each end. The roadway width is 13' 11" and the overall width of the bridge is 17" 6". The height of the trusses is 14' 8" and the overhead clearance is 13'.
The Kidwell Covered Bridge is still in good condition and still carries daily traffic. It is painted a deep red on both siding and portals. It still sits on its original cut-stone abutments, but the present metal roof is undoubtedly a replacement for the original shingle roof.
