Philippi Covered Bridge

The historic Philippi Covered Bridge carries U.S. Route 250 across the Tygart Valley River in Philippi, West Virginia, and is the oldest and longest covered bridge in the state.

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The Philippi Covered Bridge carries U.S. Route 250 over the Tygart Valley River in Philippi, West Virginia. Commissioned by the General Assembly of Virginia, it was constructed in 1852 by Lemuel Chenoweth, a noted Appalachian bridge builder, to serve the Beverly-Fairmont Turnpike. ^{1 6} The turnpike, developed in 1848, linked Beverly, Chenoweth’s hometown, with Fairmont, where it ended at the Monongahela River near a terminal on the new Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

The bridge later became closely associated with the American Civil War, particularly the Battle of Philippi in 1861. It is the oldest and longest covered bridge in West Virginia and one of only two surviving covered bridges in Barbour County. ^{2 6} It is also the only covered bridge that remains part of the United States Numbered Highway System, carrying U.S. Route 250 through Philippi. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

History

Barbour County requested bids for a bridge at Philippi in May 1850. ⁶ Contracts were awarded to Emmett J. O’Brien for the masonry work and to Lemuel and Eli Chenoweth of Beverly for the superstructure. The Chenoweths won the contract after Lemuel presented a simple but effective collapsible hickory model before the Virginia Board of Public Works in Richmond. ^{3 5 6}

Other bidders arrived with elaborate models and proposals for iron structures, wire cables, cantilevers, stone arches, and wooden bridges. Chenoweth’s model, plain by comparison, drew little attention until he placed it between two chairs and walked across it, demonstrating its strength. ⁶ According to later accounts, he then challenged the other bidders to subject their own models to the same test. None accepted, and the demonstration helped secure the contract for the Chenoweths. ^{3 5 6}

Lemuel Chenoweth was a cabinetmaker, furniture maker, and wagon maker who had been building bridges along the Staunton Road for nearly 12 years. ⁶ Educated in the “Pauper Schools” established under the Virginia Literary Fund, he credited God for what he regarded as his extraordinary talent in bridge design and construction.

The bridge’s foundation proved difficult and time-consuming to build, and progress was delayed by an outbreak of typhoid fever. ⁶ When completed, the Philippi Covered Bridge was originally 312 feet long, though it now measures 285½ feet. The bridge is 26 feet wide and was initially supported by three massive sandstone piers constructed by O’Brien. ⁵ Built at a cost of $12,180.68, the bridge uses a Long Burr arch truss design and is one of the few surviving double-barreled, or two-lane, covered bridges in the United States.

The Battle of Philippi

On June 3, 1861, the Philippi Covered Bridge became associated with one of the earliest military actions of the American Civil War. ^{4 6} Union General George B. McClellan, then in Cincinnati, was concerned about Confederate raids against the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the destruction of bridges in western Virginia. ⁶ To secure the railroad for the Union, he sent Ohio and Indiana troops into the region.

Confederate Colonel George Porterfield commanded a force of local militia and cavalry headquartered at Philippi. ⁶ After learning of the Union advance, Porterfield prepared to retreat south. On June 2 and 3, 1861, Union forces under Colonel Benjamin F. Kelley caught up with the retreating Confederates, resulting in a brief skirmish. Three Confederate casualties were reported, and some Confederate troops who had been sleeping inside the covered bridge fled hastily. Dumont’s 7th Indiana Volunteers “captured” the bridge for the Union.

McClellan’s reports to Washington portrayed the engagement in glowing terms, and the Battle of Philippi was hailed as a major Union victory. ⁶ Although brief, the engagement, along with later fighting near Belington, helped secure the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and this section of Virginia for the Union cause.

During the war, Union troops at times used the bridge as barracks. ⁴ Wartime traffic also passed through the bridge as supplies moved from the railroad at Webster south along the Tygart Valley to sustain the Union army of occupation. ⁶ Many of Chenoweth’s other bridges along the Staunton Pike were destroyed during the conflict, but the Philippi bridge remained intact, largely because it was under Union control.

The bridge was threatened on at least two later occasions during the war. ⁶ In 1863, Confederate raider General William E. Jones planned to burn the bridge, but local citizen Rev. Joshua Corder persuaded him to spare it. In 1864, three members of Confederate Company D, 20th Virginia Mounted Infantry, were ordered to destroy the bridge. Their commander, Brigadier General W. L. Jackson, rescinded the order after learning that the plan had become known.

Later Years

Over the years, the bridge was severely damaged at least seven times and underwent numerous repairs and renovations. Between 1934 and 1938, increased automobile traffic led to major alterations, including the addition of two concrete piers, bringing the total number of supports to five. ⁶ The wooden deck was replaced with a steel-reinforced concrete deck, an external walkway was added for pedestrians, and the rounded portals were squared to accommodate box trucks.

The bridge was damaged again during the severe flood of November 4–5, 1985. On February 2, 1989, it was nearly destroyed by fire after a gasoline tanker truck overfilled underground tanks at a nearby filling station. ⁵ Gasoline spilled onto the bridge, where it was ignited by a passing car after its exhaust system backfired. The fire destroyed about half of the bridge’s yellow poplar timbers, siding, and roof, and the structure was immediately closed to traffic.

Reconstruction

The reconstruction was carried out under the direction of bridge historian and West Virginia University professor Emory Kemp, who had previously restored other historic spans in West Virginia, Virginia, and New England. ⁵ Under Kemp’s supervision, a 38-man crew repaired the surviving portions of the bridge with epoxy and shaped and joined new wood using traditional tools and historic construction methods, including wooden pegs. The work was overseen by three supervisors whose prior experience included construction, carpentry, and cabinetmaking. During the restoration, workers discovered nine mine balls that had lodged in the bridge’s beams during the Battle of Philippi in 1861.

The yellow poplar needed for the restoration, valued at an estimated $100,000, was donated through state Forestry Association Director Dick Waybright, with contributions from the U.S. Forest Service, Westvaco, J.C. Lumber, and Allegheny Wood Products. ⁵ The logs were located by Georgia-Pacific personnel near Grassy Creek in Nicholas County and Bolair in Webster County. They were required to measure at least 15 inches in diameter at the small end, with eight logs measuring 56 feet long and the remainder ranging from 34 to 44 feet.

Bess, Harry Vance, and Dunsmore Brothers logging companies harvested the timber, which was loaded onto three tractor-trailers owned by Bennett Logging and Ruckman Trucking and transported to the Belington Industrial Park. ⁵ At Belington, Ricotelli Fencing and Ware Lumber established a special sawmill for the project. Simpson Lumber Company milled the 56-foot-long, 7-by-10-inch-thick beams, while Dingess Lumber manufactured structural members shorter than 20 feet.

The Philippi Restoration Committee, led by local businessman Fred Crouch, organized numerous fundraising efforts to support the project. ⁵ These included the sale of limited-edition 9-by-12-inch prints of the bridge by Webster Springs artist James Moran. The committee also received individual donations totaling $20,000 from across the United States, including its largest cash gift, a $500 contribution from Lemuel Chenoweth’s granddaughter in Michigan.

After the major restoration work was completed, a contract was awarded to install a new deck, sidewalk, and handrail system, provide scour protection for the bridge pier, and repoint the stonework. ⁵ The $1.4 million reconstruction was completed in 1991, and the bridge reopened on September 16 of that year, when Governor Gaston Caperton officially cut the ribbon.

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Details

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Sources

1. Covered Bridges in West Virginia. Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology, Morgantown, WV.
2. Adkins, Leonard M. Explorer’s Guide West Virginia. 2nd ed., The Countryman Press, 2 May 2011, p. 27.
3. Maxwell, Hu. The History of Barbour County, from Its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time. The Acme Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 177–179. Reprinted by McClain Printing Company, 1968.
4. Carnes, Eva Margaret. Centennial History of the Philippi Covered Bridge, 1852–1952. Barbour County Historical Society, Inc., Charleston Printing Company, 1952.
5. Philippi Covered Bridge. West Virginia Department of Transportation.
6. Post, Ann. Philippi Covered Bridge. National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 30 Sept. 1971. West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office.