{"nrhp_refnum":"74001793","name":"Kidd's Mills Covered Bridge Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"5 mi. S of Greenville off PA 58","address_restricted":false,"city":"Greenville","county":"Mercer County","state":"PA","lat":41.35424640750006,"lon":-80.39633859911936,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-12-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A covered bridge over the Shenango River in Pymatuning Township near Greenville, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, with the sites of two grist mills on either side of the river, within an area of about 33 acres.","why_significant":"The bridge is described as the only covered bridge in Mercer County and the only remaining example in the eastern United States of a Smith Cross Truss, a type patented in 1867. It has stood since 1868 and is one of about 200 remaining covered bridges in Pennsylvania. It was designated a county historical landmark in 1963.","narrative":"Spanning the Shenango River in Pymatuning Township near Greenville, the Kidd's Mills Covered Bridge was built in 1868 to replace a span destroyed by a flood in February 1867. Rural craftsmen assembled it with fitted joints and hand-hewn timbers, held together by wooden pins and wedges, and its stone abutments support a crossing of 120 feet. The bridge carries an old county road linking State Routes 18 and 58. It is the only covered bridge in Mercer County and, according to the nomination, the only surviving example in the eastern United States of the Smith Cross Truss, patented in 1867 by Robert Smith of Tippecanoe City, Ohio. It was designated a county historical landmark in 1963. Local advocates, including township supervisors and county commissioners, campaigned to save it. Two grist mills once stood on opposite banks of the river; little is recorded about them beyond family accounts linking one to Robert D. Kidd around 1870.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The bridge has been preserved and recently taken over by the Greenville Historical Commission, the Mercer County Historical Society and the Mercer County Commissioners; the Commissioners spent $3,000 in 1965 on minor repairs.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.108773-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/74001793.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001793/1fea5be160-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001793/1fea5be160-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jet Lowe","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kidd%27s_Mills_Covered_Bridge.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jet Lowe</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kidd%27s_Mills_Covered_Bridge.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995719","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidd%27s_Mills_Covered_Bridge_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6404608"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/mercer-county/kidds-mills-covered-bridge-historic-district-74001793/"}