Covering Covered Bridges and More

When I started planning our short vacation to Ohio, I was so pleased to find that there are over one hundred historic covered bridges remaining in the state. It would be an awesome quest to visit them all, but we only had a couple days and those bridges are located throughout the entire state. I picked the ones which were within an hour’s drive or so of our route to the safari park and back home again.

I didn’t get a picture of the very first bridge we passed, on our way to The Wilds Tuesday morning, but come to find out the Mail Pouch Bridge was only built in 1981. Cool to see, but shouldn’t be on my list.  

I was much more excited to visit the Historic Rosseau Covered Bridge on the Fairgrounds in McConnellsville. I hadn’t seen it on my original online search. Also known as the Rosseau-Glass Bridge, it is a 58-foot-long Multiple Kingpost truss bridge built in 1881, across the West Branch of Wolf Creek in Rosseau. It was the first covered bridge in Ohio to be preserved by relocation and was moved to its current location in 1953. I was disappointed that it was sadly in need of paint and some repairs.

Just driving through the quaint village of McConnellsville was another surprise. It was so cute with many old Victorian-type buildings. The Morgan County Courthouse was built in 1858, in the Greek Revival style. Across the street, the brick Twin City Opera House, built in 1890, houses the McConnelsville City Hall, among other things.

Built in 1863, Helmick Covered Bridge was down a winding, hilly road which seemed to go nowhere. Luckily it is open to vehicle traffic so we didn’t have to turn around, we just kept going on the winding, hilly road. 

Our last stop of the day was Salt Creek Bridge in Zanesville, built in the 1870s using Warren type tresses. (If I continue this, I should probably research the types of trusses, huh?)

Wednesday morning, our first stop was the Armstrong Covered Bridge, also known as the Clio Covered Bridge. It was built in 1849 by Abraham Armstrong and is a multiple Kingpost truss bridge that originally crossed Salt Creek near the small community of Clio. The bridge survived Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s raid through Ohio in 1863, one of the war’s northernmost episodes. In 1966, it was moved to Cambridge City Park. 

Then, as we were driving down more winding, hilly roads, we stopped for these two and spent way too much time watching them play. 

 

That particular road took us to Indian Camp Bridge, another multiple Kingpost truss bridge. It was built in 1855, crossing over Indian Camp Creek and was restored in 1999.

Hard to believe, but after that bridge, I was done with covered bridges, or more likely just done driving down those crazy roads. I did find this abandoned asylum in Millersburg. 

According to an internet search, the building had been a hospital and long-term care facility in the 1950s, and now is one of Ohio's most active paranormal research sites. Did not look haunted to me, but we did just drive by, as there were lots of “no Trespassing” signs

The detour wasn’t a total loss, though, as there were cool old buildings in the downtown area of Millersburg. 

But the highlight of the entire day was this grand old building, pictured above and below. The former Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. 

The Ohio State Reformatory was built over ten years in the late 1800s. It was originally known as an Intermediate Penitentiary since it accepted inmates who were too old for juvenile corrections but had committed crimes which were not serious enough for the Ohio State Penitentiary. The first inmates were admitted in 1896.

In the early 1960s, it was converted to a maximum-security facility, and by the 1980s, the conditions had drastically deteriorated, leading to construction of a new prison nearby. The Reformatory was finally closed in 1990. If you are a film buff, it may look familiar to you as it was the setting for 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption.

And then it was time to hit the dusty trail for home. A quick, but nice, four day vacation with Hubby.