Skip to main content

Bridgeport Covered Bridge


The Bridgeport Covered Bridge is a historic crossing of the South Fork Yuba River located in Nevada County, California near Nevada City.  The Bridgeport Covered Bridge opened as a tolled crossing during 1862 as part of the larger Henness Pass Road.  The Bridgeport Covered Bridge closed to vehicle traffic during 1972 and was recently restored during 2021.  The Bridgeport Covered Bridge is historically California's longest covered span is thought to likely be the longest such structure surviving in the world.  Featured as the blog cover is the Bridgeport Covered Bridge during 1950 when it was an active part of Pleasant Valley Road.  



The history of the Bridgeport Covered Bridge

The history of Bridgeport Covered Bridge was featured in the September 1950 California Highways & Public Works.  Bridgeport Covered Bridge was constructed during 1862 over the South Fork Yuba River.  The Bridgeport Covered Bridge served as part of the Virginia Turnpike Company maintained Henness Pass Road over the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The Henness Pass Road had become prominent as a crossing of the Sierra Nevada Mountains following the discovery of the Comstock Lode during 1859.  The Bridgeport Covered Bridge is noted to be similar to a like structure built by Theodore Burr over the Hudson River in 1804.  The Bridgeport Covered Bridge is noted to be the longest covered bridge in California and the United States at 225 feet in length.  As depicted in the article the Bridgeport Covered Bridge was then an active part of Pleasant Valley Road.  




The Virginia Turnpike Company stopped collecting tolls at the Bridgeport Covered Bridge during 1880.  The rationale for the Virginia Turnpike Company relinquishing their toll franchise rights likely was due to the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad and Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Wagon Road replacing the Henness Pass Road as the primary route over the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The Bridgeport Covered Bridge can be seen located in Nevada County along the Henness Pass Road on the 1882 Bancroft's Map of California.  


Bridgeport Covered Bridge was closed to vehicle traffic in 1972.  The October 19, 2011, appealdemocrat news reported the Bridgeport Covered Bridge was closing to pedestrian access on October 21, 2011, due to structural issues.  Repair estimates in the article were noted to cost approximately $20,000.



The June 27, 2014, Sacramento Bee announced funding to restore the Bridgeport Covered Bridge was allocated in the state budget on June 20, 2014.  Restoration would be completed during November 2021 and the span reopened to pedestrian traffic.  



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Pollasky Bridge

The Pollasky Bridge near modern day Friant is a ruined highway bridge which was completed during early 1906 as part of the Fresno-Fresno Flats Road.  The structure is one of the oldest known arch concrete spans to have been constructed in California.  The bridge briefly carried California State Route 41 following the destruction of the Lanes Bridge in 1940.  The Pollasky Bridge itself was destroyed by flooding during 1951, but the ruins can still be found on the Madera County side of the San Joaquin River.   Pictured as the blog cover is the Pollasky Bridge as it was featured in the 1913 book "The Concrete Bridge."  The structure can be seen crossing the San Joaquin River near Friant below on the 1922 United States Geological Survey Map.   Part 1; the history of the Pollasky Bridge The Pollasky Bridge site is near modern day Friant of Fresno County.  The community of Friant was established as Converse Ferry during 1852 on the San Joaquin Rive...

Trimmer Springs Road (Fresno County)

Trimmer Springs Road is an approximately forty-mile rural highway located in Fresno County.  The corridor begins near in California State Route 180 in Centerville and extends to Blackrock Road at the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada range near the Pacific Gas & Electric Company town of Balch Camp. The roadway is named after the former Trimmer Springs Resort and was originally constructed to facilitate access to the Sanger Log Flume.  Trimmer Springs Road was heavily modified and elongated after construction of Pine Flat Dam broke ground in 1947.   Part 1; the history of Trimmer Springs Road Much of the original alignment of Trimmer Springs Road was constructed to facilitate access to the Sanger Log Flume.   The  Kings River Lumber Company  had been established in 1888 in the form of a 30,000-acre purchase of forest lands in Converse Basin.  This purchase lied immediately west of Grant Grove and came to be known as "Millwood."  The co...

When was Ventura Avenue east of downtown Fresno renamed to Kings Canyon Road? (California State Route 180)

California State Route 180 was one of the original Sign State Routes designated in August 1934.  The highway east of Fresno originally utilized what was Ventura Avenue and Dunlap Road to reach what was then General Grant National Park.  By late year 1939 the highway was extended through the Kings River Canyon to Cedar Grove.   In 1940 General Grant National Park would be expanded and rebranded as Kings Canyon National Park.  The Kings Canyon Road designation first appeared in publications circa 1941 when the California State Route 180 bypass of Dunlap was completed.  Kings Canyon Road ultimately would replace the designation of Dunlap Road from Dunlap to Centerville and Ventura Avenue west to 1st Street in Fresno.   The Kings Canyon Road would remain largely intact until March 2023 when the Fresno Council designated Cesar Chavez Boulevard.  Cesar Chavez Boulevard was designated over a ten-mile corridor over what was Kings Canyon Road, remaini...