Smith Bridge

Smith Bridge was built in 1839 as a covered, one-lane wooden span over the Brandywine just south of the Pennsylvania line. It was destroyed in 1961 when it was set on fire the night before Halloween in 1961 and the Delaware Department of Transportation rebuilt the bridge without a cover.

There were at one time 26 covered bridges in Delaware. Only two "original" bridges remain standing.

The "new" Smith Bridge, which spans the Brandywine River, was "rebuilt" in the spirit of the original covered bridge at a cost of $1.2 million. The bridge was constructed with new steel beams, a wooden deck and roof and other aesthetic repairs. The piers and abutments were repaired and the curved approaches "smoothed" allowing a better view of traffic approaching from both sides.

The design of the bridge was provided by members of a group interested in preserving the historic look of the bridge. Their insistence on keeping Smith Bridge true to its history has resulted in what is most definitely one of very few one-lane covered bridges that will be built in the 21st century.

·        Width:  15 ft.

·        Built: 2002

·        Builder: Eastern States Construction

·        Stream: Brandywine Creek

Ashland Bridge

Ashland Bridge is one of Delaware's only two remaining historic covered bridges. A very pretty small bridge, it is located at the Ashland Nature Center.

·        Builder: Unknown

·        Truss: Town

·        Stream: Red Clay Creek

Wooddale Bridge

Wooddale Bridge is located off Rolling Mill Road, sometimes known to the locals as Rolling Road. Rolling Mill Road can be approached from route 48, turning north, or from Barley Mill Road, turning south. The bridge is to the west and links a few houses (in 1959, one) on the west side of Red Clay Creek with the east side.

·        Length: 60 ft.

·        Width: 12 ft.

·        Truss: Town

·        Stream: Red Clay Creek

Westminster Bridge

This small bridge, built to lend a picturesque quality to a 1960 subdivision, does not have a true truss. However, people who grew up in the neighborhood remember it with great fondness.

·        Length: 16 ft.   

·        Built 1960

·        Truss: Stringer

·        Stream: Hyde Run

Rudolph & Arthur Bridge

The Rudolph and Arthur bridge is a typical Chester County bridge situated in a particularly pleasant, remote wooded area of southern Chester County. Damaged and restored in the last few years, R&A was in good repair early in 1999. "Between 1850 and 1909 a large dam above the bridge site supplied power for a paper mill.... Three generations of the Rudolph family were active in the paper mill operations. When the bridge was built in 1880 Charles Arthur was a member of the paper firm which operated under the name of Rudolph and Arthur." From Covered Bridges of Chester County, by Arthur E. James, Chester County Historical Society, 1976.

·        Length: 80 ft.

·        Width: 15 ft.

·        Built 1880

·        Builder: Menander Wood and Richard Meredith

·        Truss: Burr

·        Stream: Big Elk Creek

Linton Stevens Bridge

Linton Stevens Bridge resembles its neighbors in southern Chester County, the Rudolph and Arthur and Glen Hope bridges. Until recently it was an open highway bridge on a remote and little-traveled county route; but in the mid-90's it was closed to traffic. It is reopened today after its 1996 reconditioning, but the road beyond is closed, according to the signs.

·        Length: 102 ft.

·        Width: 15 ft.

·        Built 1886

·        Builder: J. Denithome & Son

·        Truss: Burr

·        Stream: Big Elk Creek

Glen Hope Bridge

Glen Hope Bridge illustrates the best and worst of human attitudes toward our historic heritage. In the late 1980's, it was burnt by vandals. At the time, (when we first saw it) only the timbers of its unusual Burr-like arch truss were left showing - a melancholy lesson in covered bridge construction. By October, 1994, however, it had been rebuild and was again a fine example of Chester County bridges. This bridge is incorrectly placed on Chrome Road on a widely available road map of Chester county. In fact, it is on a continuation of Hickory Hill road south. In a very remote and little-traveled section of Chester County, Glen Hope Bridge is hard to find, but we feel its poignant history gives it a special significance.

·        Length: 65 ft.

·        Width: 16 ft.

·        Built 1889

·        Builder: Menander Wood and George E. Jones

·        Truss: Burr

·        Stream: Little Elk Creek