{"nrhp_refnum":"73001608","name":"Rapp's Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"W of Mont Clare off PA 724 on Mowere Rd., East Pikeland Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mont Clare","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":40.13941046000008,"lon":-75.54243240099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-06-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wooden covered bridge over French Creek at Mont Clare in Chester County, Pennsylvania, built in 1866. It carries a fourteen-foot roadway across a span of 122 feet.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the bridge is significant for its Burr-truss construction, a design it describes as of great importance in American bridge building, and for its entranceways with broken triangular pediments that it says are unique among covered bridges in the area. It is also presented as a representative of the covered bridge type, now threatened, with only sixteen surviving in Chester County out of more than one hundred built.","narrative":"Rapp's Bridge is a wooden covered bridge crossing French Creek at Mont Clare in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Benjamin F. Hartman built it in 1866 under the sponsorship of the Chester County Commissioners, and it cost $3,595.50, making it the most expensive covered bridge in the county. It spans 122 feet with a fourteen-foot roadway, resting on random fieldstone abutments. The bridge uses the Burr-truss design, in which a timber arch combines with a kingpost truss to carry longer spans than earlier methods allowed. Theodore Burr invented and patented the type between 1806 and 1817, and it dominated bridge building in the county from 1812 to 1885. Its broken triangular pediments at the entrances reflect Greek Revival influence and are unique among local covered bridges. The structure has changed little since it was built, and it is regarded as a representative example of a covered bridge type now rare, with sixteen of more than one hundred Chester County examples surviving.","period_of_significance":"1866","architect_builder":"Benjamin F. Hartman (builder), under the sponsorship of the Chester County Commissioners","architectural_style":"Burr-truss type with Greek Revival influence in the entranceways","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Original site; little altered since construction","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.667648-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/73001608.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001608/2334220cbc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001608/2334220cbc-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"East Pikeland Township","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RappsDamCoveredBridge.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">East Pikeland Township</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RappsDamCoveredBridge.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992631","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapps_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7294340"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/rapps-bridge-73001608/"}