Skip to main content

McGees Mills Covered Bridge - Mahaffey, Pennsylvania

Image
By

 

 


Built in 1873 in Mahaffey, Pennsylvania, the McGees Mills Covered Bridge is the last remaining covered bridge that crosses the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. It is also the only remaining covered bridge in Clearfield County and one of a handful along the US 219 corridor in any state the highway goes through. The McGees Mills Covered Bridge was built by Thomas A. McGee, who received an appropriation of $1,500 from the Clearfield County Commissioners to construct a replacement for a bridge spanning the West Branch of the Susquehanna River that was destroyed by a flood during the winter of 1872-1873. The 116 foot long single span Burr arch truss bridge has been protected for generations by its gabled roof, with $175 worth in local hand hewed white pine timbers having been used in its construction.

Under the bridge, thousands of river rafts loaded with timber floated the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, with the last load passing under the bridge in 1938. These rafts of timber helped build a nation, and the covered bridge bore witness to this. Major repairs were made to the McGees Mills Covered Bridge following a collapse of the historical structure on March 14, 1994. The tremendous weight of heavy snow and ice during the winter of 1993-94 caused the bridge to collapse. The bridge has been extensively reinforced with heavy steel mending plates at the joints of the Burr arches, and angle irons and mending plates on the other wooden timbers, and a five foot high wall of laminated two by twelve inch planks banded together with steel plates that run the entire length of the bridge. This was one of the most extensive reinforced bridges in all of Pennsylvania. In 2020, the Clearfield County Commissioners awarded a bid to repair the roof on the McGees Mills Covered Bridge to 768-Roof of Clearfield, Pennsylvania for $119,140, plus an additional $8,800 if masonry repointing is needed.

Today, you can passively enjoy the covered bridge in a number of ways. There is a small pullout to park so you can explore the bridge. There is also a picnic area next to the bridge so you can enjoy views of the covered bridge as well. The McGees Mills Covered Bridge is found right off of US 219 on Covered Bridge Road in Mahaffey, so if you are in the area, it is a quick detour off of the main road and a beautiful setting to spend some time in.








How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Clearfield County - McGees Covered Bridge
Bridgehunter.com - McGee's Mills Covered Bridge 38-17-01
Pennsylvania Covered Bridges - McGee's Mill Covered Bridge
The Progress - Commissioners approve repairs to two historic bridges (May 12, 2020)


Update Log:
May 12, 2021 - Crossposted to Quintessential Pennsylvania: http://quintessentialpa.blogspot.com/2021/05/mcgees-mills-covered-bridge.html
Labels:
Location: McGees Mills Covered Bridge, Covered Bridge Rd, Mahaffey, PA 15757, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

By
Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.   The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...
Post a Comment
Read more

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more