When we found out how empty the outdoor beds were at Longwood Gardens when we visited the end of October, we spent a day discovering covered bridges in Pennsylvania and Delaware. This is a bit of sport with us, because the bridges are often hard to find, mostly off the beaten path, and even in our modern technological age with GPS coordinates, often listed with the wrong coordinates or indeciperable directions on the web. Before mobile web access we were lucky to find, say, three bridges in a day. This visit snagged us nine of 12 bridges hunted

Smithbridge, Delaware

in a day, so technology has helped immensely! Because of the large number of bridges we found, we will split them into two posts to cover them all.

Bartram’s Bridge, Delaware

Harmony Hill Covered Bridge, Pennsylvania

Bartram’s Covered Bridge, Delaware

A question that some readers might have is why were the bridges covered? They covered the bridges in order to preserve the bridge from weather damage. There are many styles and configurations and builders.

Speakman #1 Covered Bridge, Pennsylvania

Mercer’s Mill Covered Bridge, Pennsylvania