Covering covered Bridges.

Sushen

     As you can see and tell, the idea of this blog is to explore the natural beauty of ours through the use photography and thought. As I journey throughout our area, I often encounter plenty of spectacular views and try to capture them on film, er digital film anyway. On a recent journey to the east, towards Salem and Cambridge, I was hiking in the Battenkill Forest Preserve and I came across a couple of nice little treasures, covered bridges.

    As you will hear often, this was a surprise as I thought one would have to travel to our New England neighbors to view such sites. But alas, according to the New York State Covered Bridge Society, there are 24 covered bridges in their state registry. Five of which are located in the Capitol Region, or close to it anyway. Three of them are located near the following areas,  Rexleigh, Buskirk and then Copeland Farms which traverses the Sacandaga river near Edinburgh. Two are located less than an hours drive from Saratoga and would make an awesome day trip, for one or a date for two.  The bridges that I got to visit are located near Salem and Cambridge and offer a fantastic glimpse into the past, as well as their respective natural surroundings.

Shushen

     After all, who doesn't like a covered bridge every now and then, they are spooky and yet romantic at the same time, conjuring images of the Headless Horseman and the stories that these walls must be able to tell are undoubtedly countless in number.  The history of covered bridges is just as vast and this website offers an in depth analysis which chronicles the rise and fall of the covered bridges in the US.       (http://www.nycoveredbridges.org/page6.html)

     Essentially, towns and population centers used these structures to connect local communities with each other attempting to keep commerce strong between them and other towns.  The use of ferries was growing obsolete with the increase in trade and traffic because they slowed down trade and commerce. Buy using a cover on the bridges, this new building technique increased the longevity of the bridges from 10-15 years to many decades by keeping the elements from damaging the trusses and joints of the bridge.  Over the years this technique caught on as more and more people adopted it because of its usefulness. The first covered wooden structure, The Permanent Bridge, was built near Philadelphia spanning the Schuykill river in 1805. The first covered bridge in New York State was built in 1825 and the last in 1912. The demise of the wooden, covered bridge can be seen in the rise of manufactured, iron trusses which greatly increased the strength, longevity and distance over water which they covered.

cool, old machinery 

     Obviously, as time passes there are less and less of these structures still with us, but a conservation effort was started in the second half of the 20th century and a significant effort is and was put in to salvage the remaining beauties.  Most of these are on the national or state historical societies preservation lists and many thanks go out to a long list of  anonymous individuals who dedicated countless time and effort.  However, the rate of loss on these objects is becoming greater and greater with time.

Car driving over Eagleville bridge.

 The New York State Covered Bridges Society offers plenty of information on its preservation efforts along with a list and directions to the bridges in the state. There are also several smaller ones, which don't make the list, but are worth a little bit of effort to find. One such example is at the Colonie town Park.


      On my particular journey, a beautiful scenic drive towards Salem offered the first sights, the Shushan Bridge. According to their page, the NYSCBS states the bridge was built in 1858 by Milton and James Stevens. It is located on rt. 61 in downtown Shushan, and offers a museum during the summer months which is open from 1-5.
     I continued my drive towards the Battenkill Forest Preserve, hiked a fairly exhaustive up and down mountain. As I trekked back to the car, I spotted the sign pointing to the Eagleville bridge, so i figured I would make the effort to check it out. It was very nice and the effort was rewarded with some nice photos of the bridge. The bridge was still active, as you can see, and

rope swing and the Battenkill River

allows the visitor access inside. It was originally constructed in 1858 by Ephraim Clapp and is located in the town of Jackson-Salem. The bridge covers a span of 100 feet over the Battenkill river with it's barn red exterior.

     This was a nice, fun and quick trip.  I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in such historical structures, and the hike was nice and revealed some wonderful vistas along the way.  I would also be interested in hearing from others who have been there, or others who have similar destinations in other parts of the state, country and world.

So remember, as you are trapped in this history you call life, Victor Hugo reminds us of the importance of preservation, "let us, while waiting for a new monument, preserve the ancient monuments."