{"nrhp_refnum":"74001770","name":"Kennedy Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"N of Kimberton off PA 23 on Seven Stars Rd. over French Creek, East Vincent Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Kimberton","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":40.14041690200003,"lon":-75.57636764899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-01-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wooden covered bridge with random fieldstone abutments spanning French Creek at Kimberton in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1856 by Alex Kennedy and Jesse King under contract with the Commissioners of Chester County.","why_significant":"The bridge is described as one of the area's earliest covered bridges and one of the most typical in its architectural detail. It is presented as representative of the Burr-truss design, an important advance in American bridge construction, and as a fine example of the wooden covered bridge type, which is rapidly disappearing. It is one of sixteen remaining covered bridges among the over one hundred built in Chester County.","narrative":"Kennedy Bridge is a covered bridge of wood construction on random fieldstone abutments, crossing French Creek at Kimberton in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Alex Kennedy and Jesse King built it in 1856 under a contract with the county commissioners, and it was completed that October. The 96-foot span carries a fourteen-foot roadway on a Burr-truss design, in which a massive wooden arch bolted to a kingpost truss on each side shares the load. The Burr-truss, designed by Theodore Burr in 1806 and patented in 1817, allowed spans of unprecedented length. The bridge is regarded as one of the area's earliest covered bridges and one of the most typical in its detail. It was damaged in the 1884 flood and repaired, and it was reinforced in 1956 with concrete added to the abutments while keeping its original look. It was rededicated during its centennial in 1956. Only sixteen of the more than one hundred covered bridges built in Chester County remain.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Alex Kennedy and Jesse King (builders)","architectural_style":"Burr-truss","criteria":[],"status_note":"Reinforced in 1956 for heavier loads with the original appearance preserved as far as possible; a new shingle roof was added in 1960; repaired after flood damage in 1884.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.291377-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/74001770.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001770/06143b0d47-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001770/06143b0d47-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kennedy_Bridge_Chesco.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kennedy_Bridge_Chesco.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992538","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Bridge_(Kimberton,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6389591"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/kennedy-bridge-74001770/"}