Y Covered Bridge No. 156
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
Spanning 76 feet in Central, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, the Y Covered Bridge is a Queen Post truss structure with iron tension rods, a 14-foot roadway and 11 feet of clearance. Its portal uses board and batten construction, while the present wall covering is plain vertical boards. Apart from one steel horizontal beam, the understructure is thick wooden beams, and the abutments are original stone and mortar. The road surface consists of horizontal boards with two runways laid on top. Oak, pine or hemlock were the usual timbers for bridges of this type. Covered bridges were adopted in place of open wooded bridges because they lasted longer. Columbia County's bridges show several truss types, and the Queen Post was used for longer spans. The bridge is significant for its engineering and for its role in transportation, linking towns with farms and mills. The builder was J. M. Larish. Flood damage has left the bridge in need of repairs.
Significance in brief: The nomination places the bridge within the county's covered bridge tradition, noting that Columbia County bridges used King Post, Warren Truss, Queen Post, Theodore Burr and Howe Truss designs. It is argued to be significant under engineering and transportation, as bridges were needed to support the growth of towns and farming, saw and grist mill activity.
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 79003176, listed November 29, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence low).
Key facts
| Address | SR 757, Central |
|---|---|
| County | Columbia County |
| Listed | November 29, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79003176 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Architect / builder | J. M. Larish (builder) |
| Areas of significance | Engineering, Transportation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The bridge is in need of repairs due to flood damage. |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Coordinates | 41.28976, -76.36420 (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 79003176.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q16903829
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.