Jud Christie Covered Bridge No. 95
Why it's listed
Millville's Jud Christie Covered Bridge is a wooden covered span measuring 55.9 feet long, with a roadway 12.66 feet wide and 11 feet of clearance. It was built by William L. Lanning and uses a queen post design, with two long diagonal braces on either side of a central iron tension rod. The wall coverings are board and batten, and the abutments are made entirely of stone and mortar. Oak, pine or hemlock was the usual lumber for bridges of this kind. Covered bridges followed open wooden bridges because their longer lives suited a county where town growth and farming, saw mills and grist mills required reliable crossings. Columbia County's covered bridges use several truss types, including the queen post used for longer spans. The bridge is regarded as a significant example of the county's transportation engineering, since no covered bridges of this kind have been built there in the last fifty years.
Significance in brief: The bridge is a surviving example of the covered bridges that served the growing county towns and the farming, saw and grist mill activity that depended on road transport. The form notes that covered bridges have not been built in Columbia County within the last half century, so the county's surviving bridge engineering is regarded as unique. It is nominated under the transportation and engineering areas.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 79003184, listed November 29, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | SR 685, Millville |
|---|---|
| County | Columbia County |
| Listed | November 29, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79003184 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Architect / builder | William L. Lanning (builder) |
| Architectural style | Queen post truss |
| Areas of significance | Engineering, Transportation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The bridge is described as being in excellent condition with no steel beams added. |
| Acreage | 0.5 |
| Coordinates | 41.19600, -76.47292 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 79003184.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6302029
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.