{"nrhp_refnum":"74002280","name":"Otway Covered Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"N of OH 348","address_restricted":false,"city":"Otway","county":"Scioto County","state":"OH","lat":38.862754573000075,"lon":-83.18994173099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-05-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-span wooden Smith truss covered bridge crossing Scioto Brush Creek at Otway, Scioto County, Ohio, built in 1874 with a steel span added at the east end in 1923.","why_significant":"The bridge is described as an excellent example of late 19th century engineering and one of the best Smith trusses left in Ohio. It was built to a truss design patented by Robert W. Smith in 1869. It is also valued locally and has been preserved by a community society since 1960.","narrative":"Spanning Scioto Brush Creek at Otway in Scioto County, Ohio, this covered bridge was built in 1874 to replace a ford. The county commissioners accepted a bid from the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo for the superstructure, while local labor, a nearby sawmill and a stonemason supplied the rest. The main span is 127 feet long, with yellow poplar siding, a sheet metal roof and cut stone abutments. It uses the Smith truss, patented in 1869 by Robert W. Smith, with arches and steel rods added in 1896. An 81-foot steel span on the east end, built in 1923, replaced an open wooden span over an old mill race. The bridge is regarded as one of the best surviving Smith trusses in Ohio and an excellent example of late 19th century engineering. A community society formed in 1960 to save it from being bypassed, and the Ohio Historical Society dedicated a marker there in 1963.","period_of_significance":"1874","architect_builder":"Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio (superstructure); W. H. Wheeler (masonry); Nicholas Schakert, county commissioner, supervised construction","architectural_style":"Smith truss, type 3, covered wooden bridge","criteria":[],"status_note":"Stated to be in good condition and being preserved as an historic site by a local society; the form also says its appearance has changed little over the years.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.769265-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/74002280.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002280/8e47cbc4de-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002280/8e47cbc4de-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Rod Detty","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Otway_Covered_Bridge.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Rod Detty</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Otway_Covered_Bridge.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991267","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otway_Covered_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q58904062"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/scioto-county/otway-covered-bridge-74002280/"}