{"nrhp_refnum":"78001185","name":"Sugar Creek Covered Bridge","other_names":["Old Covered Bridge over Sugar Creek"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"SE of Chatham off I-55","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chatham","county":"Sangamon County","state":"IL","lat":39.640416145000074,"lon":-89.66213872699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-01-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A sixty-foot clear-span wooden covered bridge over Sugar Creek, about three-quarters of a mile west of I-55 near Chatham in Sangamon County, Illinois. It was built in 1827 by Thomas Black and is owned by the State of Illinois.","why_significant":"It is described as Sangamon County's oldest covered bridge and one of seven wooden trussed bridges in Illinois still in service at their original location. The nomination calls it a representative, not unique, example of the wooden truss type, with purely local transportation significance. It also served the area's first settlers and draws tourists interested in Lincoln-era sites.","narrative":"Spanning Sugar Creek near Chatham, this covered bridge crosses the creek with a 60-foot clear span and 24-foot approaches at each end. Thomas Black built it in 1827 to serve the first settlers in Sangamon County, who arrived in the area in 1817. Its wooden truss has eight panels of a modified Burr type, with X-shaped diagonals in each panel and an arch assisting the frame. The portals are 8 feet 3 inches high and wide. In 1965 the state rehabilitated the structure, straightening the lower chord, adding steel rods and supports, replacing about half the bracing and deck, and patching the shingle roof, using materials matching the original. The bridge is one of seven wooden trussed bridges in Illinois still serving traffic at their original sites, out of more than 200 once built. It is valued as a representative example of a common nineteenth-century type and as a tourist stop for visitors following Lincoln-related sites around Springfield.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Thomas Black","architectural_style":"Wooden truss bridge, modified Burr truss with arch","criteria":[],"status_note":"Rehabilitated in 1965 by the state; described as in good condition, altered, on its original site, and still in service.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.249423-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/8940/28894052/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/78001185.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001185/03d8a63c69-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78001185/03d8a63c69-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Maliwhite10","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sugar_Creek_Covered_Bridge.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Maliwhite10</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sugar_Creek_Covered_Bridge.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894052","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Creek_Covered_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16900814"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/sangamon-county/sugar-creek-covered-bridge-78001185/"}