Trusal Covered Bridge
Why it's listed
Along Plum Creek in Washington Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, stands a covered bridge with a 35-foot span, dated to 1870 in the county inventory. It is built with a Town truss, a lattice system of crossed wooden members named for its designer Ithiel Town, and it has vertical siding, a gable roof, and an open band of window area beneath the roofline. Its floor is laid with boards running across the span. Of the six covered bridges the county once had, four remain, and this is one of them. The county owns and maintains the four surviving bridges, which are regarded as the only examples of their type left in the county. The bridge is valued as an intact example of nineteenth-century wood truss technology and as a visible record of the county's covered bridge building. Its survival in good condition is the main basis for its importance.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the bridge is an intact and important example of 19th-century wood truss technology and of covered bridge construction in Indiana County. It is one of only four extant covered bridges in the county, so it is presented as part of a thematic group of surviving county bridges.
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 79002243, listed August 3, 1979. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | W of Willet, Willet |
|---|---|
| County | Indiana County |
| Listed | August 3, 1979 |
| Reference number | 79002243 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Areas of significance | Engineering, Transportation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Good condition |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Coordinates | 40.73044, -79.18443 (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 79002243.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7848051
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.