Rupert Covered Bridge No. 56
Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
Rupert Covered Bridge carries traffic across a waterway in Rupert, Columbia County, Pennsylvania. It is 185.33 feet long, has a roadway 17.75 feet wide and 12 feet of clearance, and is built on the Burr Arch Truss system, with eight diagonal beams on each side of a central king post and an arch superimposed on the truss. The portals are curved archways of horizontal boards, the walls are plain vertical planks, and the roof is tarred metal laid over wooden shingles. The floor carries two runways over horizontal boards. One abutment is stone and mortar and the other has been replaced by concrete, and some reinforcements have been added to the structure. Jessee M. Beard is named as builder. The bridge is regarded as an example of covered bridge engineering, a type that served the growing towns and the farming and milling economy of the county, where bridges of this kind had not been built for half a century.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the bridge is significant for its engineering and its role in transportation. It is built on the Theodore Burr arch-truss design, and the document notes that covered bridges have not been built in Columbia County in the last half century, which makes the county's design and engineering unique. Bridges like this served the rapid growth of towns and the farming, saw mill and grist mill activity that depended on travel between them.
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 79003186, listed November 29, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | ST 449, Rupert |
|---|---|
| County | Columbia County |
| Listed | November 29, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79003186 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Architect / builder | Jessee M. Beard (builder) |
| Architectural style | Burr Arch Truss |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Engineering, Transportation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Coordinates | 40.98144, -76.47265 (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 79003186.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7380269
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.