Swartz Covered Bridge, Wyandot Ohio
The Swartz Bridge crosses the Sandusky River not far from the headwaters of that stream and indeed, it seems more creek than river at this point. The Old Swartz Bridge is in a very historic area. This area was once within the old Wyandot Indian Reservation. Less than a mile west of the covered bridge, Broken Sword Creek enters the Sandusky River. Col. William Crawford is supposed to have broken his sword and thrown it into this creek just before his capture by the Indians. Ever since, the creek has been known as Broken Sword Creek. About ten miles southwest of the Swartz Bridge is the interesting Killdeer Wildlife Area.
The county has taken good care of this fine old Howe truss bridge, despite repeated efforts of vandals to deface it. The bridge is well-decorated with graffiti. An attempt was made to set the bridge on fire in the early summer of 1975, but prompt action by area residents prevented much damage to the bridge.
Bridge Description
The bridge is a one-span wooden truss covered bridge spanning the Sandusky River five miles east of Harpster in Antrim Township, Wyandot County, Ohio. This fine old span has vertical, high-boarded siding, projected portals, cedar shingle roof, stone and concrete abutments.
This is known as the Swartz Bridge and is built on the once-popular Howe truss plan patented in 1810 by New Englander William Howe of Spencer, Mass. Mr. Howe devised this truss plan which uses the wooden braces and counterbraces commonly found in the earlier wooden trusses, but introducing the use of iron tension rods as the truss verticals. These iron rods had turnbuckles that could be tightened to straighten the bridge if it began to sag. The Howe truss was a significant development in the history of bridge engineering as it was the first in which iron was used in combination with the wooden trusses and it marked the beginning of the end of the all-wooden truss. The Swartz Bridge is a nine-panel Howe truss, 108'6" long overall with a clear span of 100'6", The roadway width is 13' and the overall width is 18'6". Height of the trusses is 14'6" and the overhead clearance is 13'. The truss braces are 2-6" x 6" and the counterbraces are 1-6" x 7". The iron rods are all 1" in diameter and there are 2 of these rods on each truss panel. The upper and, lower chords are all 4-6" x 12" and the joists are all 1-9" x 9". The south abutment is the original stone, but the north abutment is now concrete. The floor is in one layer, laid crosswise.
The Swartz Bridge is a fine-looking and well-cared-for old covered bridge. Vandals knocked off all the siding in September 1966 just as the county was preparing to replace a few missing boards and reroof the old span. The vandals necessitated all new siding which was then painted a dark "barn" red. The portals were painted red, too. A new roof, of cedar shingles from British Colombia was put on in 1966, too.
South portal, west side, looking northeast (1975)
