{"nrhp_refnum":"78002211","name":"Hildreth Covered Bridge","other_names":["Hills Covered Bridge","Lafaber`s Mill Bridge"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"5 mi. (8 km) E of Marietta off OH 26","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marietta","county":"Washington County","state":"OH","lat":39.42737658500005,"lon":-81.36140284699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-02-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-span wooden covered bridge carrying a township road over the Little Muskingum River in Newport Township, about five miles east of Marietta, Washington County, Ohio. It is a 12-panel Howe truss, 140 feet 6 inches long overall, with a construction date given variously as the early 1870s, 1878 or 1881.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a fine, well-preserved example of the Howe truss, which used iron tension rods and marked the end of the all-wooden truss. It is one of three covered bridges left on the Little Muskingum in the county, each with a different truss type. A 1986 update gives its builder and a construction date of 1878.","narrative":"Spanning the Little Muskingum River about five miles east of Marietta, this wooden covered bridge is a single-span, 12-panel Howe truss. It measures 140 feet 6 inches overall, with a 14-foot roadway, vertical board siding, a metal roof and battened portals. Its cut-stone abutments and piers are original and stand high to withstand the river's floods. The Howe design, patented in 1840, used iron tension rods that could be tightened if the bridge sagged, ending the era of all-wooden trusses. Sources disagree on the date: the early 1870s, 1881, and later research indicating 1878, when Hocking Valley Bridge Works of Lancaster built it for $13 per lineal foot. It was once known as Lafaber's Mill Bridge. Signs call it the Hills Bridge, while the Hildreth name likely comes from a pioneer family that owned nearby land. It is one of three covered bridges remaining on the river in Washington County, each of a different truss type, and it still carries daily traffic.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Hocking Valley Bridge Works of Lancaster, Ohio (per 1986 update); original builder otherwise unknown","architectural_style":"Howe truss covered bridge","criteria":[],"status_note":"In good condition and still carrying daily traffic; original cut-stone abutments and piers remain.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.280902-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/78002211.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002211/0bc6d71879-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002211/0bc6d71879-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Linda Tanner","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hildreth_Covered_Bridge.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Linda Tanner</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:Hildreth_Covered_Bridge.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991949","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildreth_Covered_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5761733"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/washington-county/hildreth-covered-bridge-78002211/"}