{"nrhp_refnum":"79002308","name":"Richards Covered Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"E of Elysburg on T 804, Ralpho/Cleveland Townships","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elysburg","county":"Northumberland County","state":"PA","lat":40.84748758300003,"lon":-76.50764411999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-span covered timber truss bridge carrying a township road over the South Branch of Roaring Creek, east of Elysburg in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1852 by Obediah S. Campbell.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the bridge as an example of a sub-divided Howe truss with a queenpost added for extra capacity, a variation on William Howe's patented design in which the queenpost replaced the original steel tension bars. The builder appears to have adapted the truss to his own preferences, as was common with patented trusses of the period.","narrative":"Built in 1852 by Obediah S. Campbell, this single-span covered timber truss bridge crosses the South Branch of Roaring Creek on Township Route 804, east of Elysburg in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. The structure has a clear span of 59 feet 7 inches between stone masonry abutments and a total length of 64 feet. Its roadway is 11 feet 9 inches wide, with a vertical clearance of 11 feet 6 inches under the timber portal. The truss is a sub-divided Howe type with a single queenpost. The queenpost took the place of the steel tension bars in William Howe's original patented design of 1840. Campbell adjusted the truss to suit his own preferences, a practice common among builders of patented trusses at the time. The bridge is significant as a surviving example of this regional variation and of mid-nineteenth-century covered bridge construction in the county.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Obediah S. Campbell (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition described as good and structurally sound, considering the age of the wood and the effects of creek floods.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.151924-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002308.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002308/78d298b634-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002308/78d298b634-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ruhrfisch","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Richards_Covered_Bridge_1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Ruhrfisch</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:Richards_Covered_Bridge_1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993428","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richards_Covered_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7330285"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/northumberland-county/richards-covered-bridge-79002308/"}