{"nrhp_refnum":"80003561","name":"Wehr Covered Bridge","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"W of Greenawald on T 597, South Whitehall Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Orefield","county":"Lehigh County","state":"PA","lat":40.56887210900004,"lon":-75.50429631099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-12-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-span Burr truss covered bridge carrying a county road over Jordan Creek in South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, near Orefield, Pennsylvania. The bridge is recorded as built in 1841.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the bridge as an example of wooden covered bridge technology within the Covered Bridges of the Delaware River Watershed thematic group. Its horizontal siding at the interior entrances is said to resemble Bucks County covered bridges. The document records the bridge as being in excellent condition.","narrative":"Wehr's Covered Bridge is a three-span Burr truss structure crossing Jordan Creek in South Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, near Orefield. Built in 1841, it measures about 117 feet along the span length and 17 feet in width, with an interior clearance of 11 feet 6 inches. It has a gable roof, random-width horizontal siding, and stone abutments and piers. The first few feet of the interior are lined with horizontal siding similar to that found on covered bridges in Bucks County. In 1965 steel reinforcements were added under the direction of a county contractor and engineers, and the bridge was recorded as being in excellent condition when listed. It is significant as an example of wooden covered bridge construction in the Delaware River Watershed, a group of related bridges that were reviewed together as a thematic set.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Burr truss covered bridge","criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition; strengthened in 1965 with steel reinforcements.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.874569-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/80003561.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003561/c2ec237bd0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003561/c2ec237bd0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Zeete","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wehr_Covered_Bridge,_Orefield,_PA_-_2014.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Zeete</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wehr_Covered_Bridge,_Orefield,_PA_-_2014.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993334","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehr_Covered_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7979705"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lehigh-county/wehr-covered-bridge-80003561/"}