{"nrhp_refnum":"99000097","name":"Barkhurst Mill Covered Bridge","other_names":["Williams Covered Bridge"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Township Rd. 21 over Wolf Creek","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chesterhill","county":"Morgan County","state":"OH","lat":39.50288642600003,"lon":-81.83413816699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-02-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-span wooden truss covered bridge carrying Township Road 21 over Wolf Creek in Marion Township, about two miles northeast of Chesterhill, Morgan County, Ohio. It was built in 1872 by John Shrake.","why_significant":"The bridge is argued to be significant under Criterion C as an example of the multiple kingpost truss design in Ohio. It is also a representative work of John Shrake, a leading bridge builder of 1850-1875, of whose bridges only three survive. It is one of five covered bridges left in Morgan County and one of three still on their original sites.","narrative":"Spanning Wolf Creek two miles northeast of Chesterhill in Morgan County, Ohio, this covered bridge was built in 1872 by John Shrake, with cut sandstone abutments laid by Elisha W. Kirby. It is a ten-panel, single-span multiple kingpost truss with three-ply wooden arches, projecting portals and unpainted vertical board siding. The structure measures 92 feet 6 inches long and still carries a few vehicles daily, and the Buckeye Trail crosses it. It takes its name from a nearby gristmill whose remains lie about 75 feet away. Its listing rests on engineering significance. It represents the multiple kingpost design, the most common wooden truss type in Ohio, and it is a surviving work of Shrake, one of the state's foremost bridge builders of the mid-1800s. Only three of his bridges remain, and this is the only one known in Morgan County. Floods, a snowstorm and later repairs have altered parts of it, but it remains on its original site.","period_of_significance":"1872 to 1948","architect_builder":"John Shrake - Builder; E.W. Kirby - Stonemason","architectural_style":"Other: Covered Bridge (multiple kingpost truss with added laminated arches)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Open to traffic, carrying about 10 vehicles per day; extensive maintenance was done in 1996, including new end sills, steel supports and a new corrugated metal roof.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.754637-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/99000097.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000097/112c69ecc1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000097/112c69ecc1-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barkhurst_Mill_Covered_Bridge_from_east.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barkhurst_Mill_Covered_Bridge_from_east.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990629","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkhurst_Mill_Covered_Bridge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q58904042"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/morgan-county/barkhurst-mill-covered-bridge-99000097/"}