Form 10-300 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (July 1969) West ¥irginia COUNTY: NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Barbom* INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER (Type all entries — complete applicable sections) 1 4 SEP t9rt

C OMMON:

Ptiil 1,rrp•i 1.^ 1 Hove*pftri Br 1d- AND/OR HISTORIC: Lemuel Chenowetri Bridge at Phlllppl

STREET AND NUMBER: U. 3. 250 at the Junction with U* S. 119 Street, Crosses , 15 miles S. of Grafton CITY OR TOWN: Philippi CODE COUNTY:

, W Q s t _ _ V i r g i ni a. . 54 Barbour 001

CATEGORY ACCESSIBLE OWNERSHIP STATUS (Check One) TO THE PUBLIC

District Q Building Public Public Acquisition: (55 Occupied Yes: Q Restricted Site jX) Structure Private || In Process I | Unoccupied |Cj Unrestricted D Object Both Q Being Considered Q Preservation work in progress a No

PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate)

[ I Agricultural | [ Government D Park Transportation JC] Comments [ | Commercial [ | Industrial I I Private Residence Other (Specify) Pulltime I | Educational I | Military I | Religious use on [ | Entertainment || Museum I | Scientific U. 3. 25Q.

OWNER'S NAME: West firginia Department of Highways STREET AND NUMBER: l800 Washington Street 9 East Cl TY OR TOWN: Charle s ton^ We s t Virgini a We s t.. 54

COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: Barbour County Courthouse. Office of the n STREET AND NUMBER: Main Street CITY OR TOWN:

West Virgin! a. 54

TITLE OF SURVEY:

DATE OF SURVEY: Q Federal D State County Local DEPOSITORY FOR SUR"Ve>Y REC

STREET AND

CITY OR TOWN: (Check One)

Excellent Good | | Fair I | Deteriorated II Ruins [| Unexposed CONDITION (Check One) (Check One; 3C] Altered Q Unaltered D Moved [21 Original Site DESCRIBETtie THEThilxppi PREfENT AND covered ORIGINAL (if bridgeknown) PHYSIpAU is APPEARANCEa two-lane woo U. S, SbC i,i; the junction of U. S. 250 and U. S the Tygart's Valley River at Phili ginia. The western abutment is built on the river bed and is 2f> ft. high. al pier is slate rock about 2 feet below trie surface of the rive bed. The eastern abutment is three feet below the surface of th river bed on, a bed of 'stone coal ! and built to a height of 20ft Later,, two concrete piers were constructed on. either side of the original pier to strengthen the bridge's foundabion. half and h placed on, ith the lower chords. stringers , being franed into the floor beams and pinned as well, serve "as bracing, and no lateral system for bracing is used. A type of fish-plate joint is used for lower chord splicing. The only metal iri the bridge is in the form of hand-made bolts used to hold the various members together 3 but in no case do these bolts take any primary stress. The transfer of load from one element to another is accomplished by direct bearing or by notching. Wedges take care of shrinkage conditions and wooden pins are used in the bracing systems. /" Sorie decay has occurred in the arches , but the properly pro­ tected timbers are in good condition. After nearly 120 years of continuous use, the structure is almost perfectly aligned. Original masonry material was from the Philippi vicinity, The yellow poplar "used for the superstructure was cut and pre­ pared in Barbour County. The sides of the bridge are boarded. In the eriod 193U.-3& the foundation and floor of the bridge were strengthened. Two concrete piers were added ;e moto vehicle traffic, A concrete floor was laid, A pedestrian wall: was added along the southern side of trie bridge. The rounded portals were squared to accommodate stake bodied trucks. Because of truck damage bo the portals, the clearance limit has been reduced to a height of 12 feet. This li-at allows most tractor trailer traffic to use the bridge. The West Virginia Department of Highways maintains the bridge. The Barbour County historical Society has waged a constant cam­ paign to prevent the bridge's demise. The woodwork above the portals aau been, replaced a number of times following damages from large truck traffic. The woodw is painted white and carry this historical message: "Phil£ W. Va. Scene of First Land Battle of Civil War. This Erected l8.5'2 Served Both North and South in Passage of and Supplies Across Mountains into Virginia." ^ *uu 9 ERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate)

Q Pre-Columbian! Q 16th Century 18th Century 20th Century

Q 15th Century D !7th Century 19th Century

SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) luS2 REAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate)

Abor iginal |"~] Education Q Political

Q Prehistoric j*y Engineering n Religion/Phi­

|3§ Historic [ | Industry losophy

|~~] Agriculture (""I Invention PJ Science

@ Architecture [~1 Landscape || Sculpture

D Art Architecture | | Social/Human­

[~] Commerce | | Literature itarian

[~] Communications |§ Military FJ Theater

[~~] Conservation Music f3 Transportation

TATEMENTThe wooden, OF SIGNIFICANCE two-lane covered bridge, crossing the Tyg art's Valley River, at Philippi, Harbour County, West Virginia was built in 1652. It is one of only six remaining two -lane cov­ ered bridges in the United States. It is tiie only wooden bridg to accommodate busy federal highway traffic, U, S. 250. The bridge was constructed in lb$l-52 to facilitate the l81j.8 Beverli and Fairnoiit Road, which had been built to stimulate the use of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, an important link with Rich­ mond and Norfolk. The Beverly and Fairmont Road ended at Pair- mo nt on the Monongahela Hiver, a terminal on the new Baltimore arid Oiiio rfailroad. Trie q]._arjcgbiirg I3g_Tji.o_cratj printed a. request for bids for the b r i dg e ""la t' " : : "FhTTIp p T'^inTWay 1850. Contracts were awarded to Eramett J. O'Brien for the masonry work, and to Lemuel and Eli Chenoweth, of Beverly, Virginia, now West Virginia, for the superstructure of the bridge. The foundation proved a lengthy task and an outbreak of typhoid fever further delayed progress. late in 1852 the bridge was completed at a cost of §12,l8l.2lj-. ^Lemuel Chenoweth, a cabinet, furniture and wagon maker had be erT~' building" bridges on trie Staunton Road for nearly twelve years. Meagerly educated in "Pauper Schools", established unde. his extr for t!].e Staunton Turnpike bridges had been given Chenoweth, whe. he took a collapsible model of his bridge 200 miles over the mountains to Richmond. There he demonstrated its s tardiness by placing the .nod el between two chairs and walking the length of trie bridge. This model m,ay be seen today in Richmond. The phi ippi bridge remains his greatest masterpiece. /Wita little alte atlon trie bridge has had continuous use in the nearly 120 years sajaace i j mas built,/ A war in 1861 in western Virginia, HcClellan in Cincinnati, concerned over Confederate raids again the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the destruction of bridges in western Virginia, sent Ohio and Indiana troops into the re­ gion to secure the B&0 for the Union. Confederate Col. George Porterfield commanded a group of local militia and cavalry with headquarters in Philippi. Learning of the movement of Union ol. Alien, Richard S.Covered Bribes of the Middle Atlantic States Brattleboro, Vermont: The Steptien Green Press, 1959. Games, Eva H. (ed. )• Centennial History of the Phil ipr)i Covered Bridge, i§5>2-i952* Philip-pi, West Virginia: The Barbour County Historical Society, Inc., 1952. Conaway, Calvin R, Covered Bridi^e^ jLri Vvejrt j^^f^^la.* Morgantown, West Virginia University, 19l'~7. Maxwell, B.u. Hijitpry pjf Barbour G_ounty, 'wejrt^ Virgj-nda. Korgantowi West .Virginia, lB9B"» R. i'. Dav:|.s and L. L. Jenison. "Development of Wooden Bridges." a^^J^^fiM3Lj9^a^:i:::,:A^&ra:G:fin.::^^ ———

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES

LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE

Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds NW 39 ° 09 ' 11 N 8CP OH ' 36 '¥ NE SE SW APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: ~~ QQ' t/> m STATE: CODE COUNTY rn

COUNTY:

COUNTY:

COUNTY:

NAME AND TITLE: o Ann Fog- Field Aftent ORGANIZATION

STREET AND NUMBER: Old Mountainlair CITY OR TOWN: STATE t/> Wegt. V3-rg.l.J^Jl..a 2^5 54

As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na­ I hereby certify that this property is included in the tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion National Register. in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. The recommended ——————————————————U^f-——————— Chief, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation level of significance of this nomination is: National QQ State Qg Local O Form 10-300a STATE (July 1969) V/est Vir NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM Barbour FOR NPS USE ONLY

ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet) 1 4 (Number all entries) No. 8 Significance Philippi Covered Bridge ben mmin F t meII e retreating Confederates, and a brief s.kirv 'd3:i In three casualties,X Con- f e d e r a t e t r o o p s , s o -": e sleeping within the covered bridge, hastily fled, Dumont's ?th Indiana Volunteers "captured" the bridge for the union. McClellan's reports of the sent to Washington were so glowing that the enpa.feement as hailed as a m,aior victory for"p '~-"" the4~v^ Union*TT-« 4 ,-,*-> Thismvm first inland en.;:; age went ol trie Civil War and t,\e later battle near Bellngton did, In large part, secure trie B&O an trie Union cause* At ti^es, Union troops used the bridge as barracks and wartime the railroad other Chenoweth bridges on the Staun- e Philippi bridge remained Intact, largely because it was controlled by the Union, whose cause it served* Reportedly, the bridge was In danger on two other occasions durl the war. In 1863, the Confederate raider, Gen* William Jones made plans to burn the bridge. A local citizen, Rev* Joshua Corder, convinced Jones to spare the bridge* Again in 1861}., three members of Confederate Cor-;pany D, 2Gth Virginia Mounted Infantry were ordered to destroy trie bridge. Their commander, Brig, General W* L. Jackson rescinded the order when it was learned that their plans were known. The old covered bridge has survived the elements, war, flood, fire and vehicular damage for nearly 120 years. In 19^2 Philippi and the Barbour County historical Society sponsored a centennial celebration, at which time a history of the bridge was compiled and published. The bridge's real significance may well be its long history of service in providing for the transportation needs of countless Virginians and West Virginians, 'V. .-••.•-.•.

1. PHILIPPI COVERED BRIDGE 2. PHILIPPI COVERED BRIDGE