Adairs Covered Bridge
Also known as: Cisna Mill Covered Bridge
Why it's listed
Adairs Covered Bridge is a Burr truss covered bridge that crosses Shermans Creek in Kistler, Perry County, Pennsylvania. The structure was originally built in 1864 and rebuilt in 1919, and its span measures about 150 feet. Its oak planking is laid crosswise, and it is reinforced with five steel I-beams and three piers, two of steel and one of concrete. The bridge has a clear width of 14 feet 3 inches and a clearance of 11 feet 4 inches, with a posted load limit of 15 tons. It was listed as one of the covered bridges of Adams, Cumberland and Perry Counties, a group of surviving timber bridges in south central Pennsylvania. The bridge is noted for its surviving nineteenth-century truss form and the early rebuilding that preserved it as a working crossing. The available text is brief and partly garbled, so details of its engineering history are limited.
Significance in brief: The form identifies the bridge as one of the covered bridges of Adams, Cumberland and Perry Counties, a group nominated under a multiple property cover sheet. The text provided is largely a cover sheet with limited narrative on significance.
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 80003594, listed August 25, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence low).
Key facts
| Address | E of Andersonburg on LR 50009, Southwest Madison Township, Kistler |
|---|---|
| County | Perry County |
| Listed | August 25, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80003594 |
| Resource type | Structure |
| Architectural style | Burr truss |
| Areas of significance | Transportation |
| Level of significance | State |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Coordinates | 40.34148, -77.42379 (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 80003594.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4678479
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.