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Photograph of Bergstresser/Dietz Covered Bridge
Photograph by Wdzinc, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Bergstresser Covered Bridge

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“Bergstresser / Dietz Bridge, the last remaining covered bridge in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, is located within the city limits of Canal Winchester, Ohio in southeastern Franklin County. The wooden bridge crosses Little Walnut Creek, which is a tributary of the Scioto River.”

Wikipedia article Bergstresser/Dietz Covered Bridge, CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 295 National Register listings in Franklin County · listed in 1974 · category: Structure · one of 3 National Historic Landmarks in Franklin County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. W of OH 674 over Walnut Creek, Canal Winchester, 43110
  • When was it listed? 1974-05-03
  • Category. structure
  • Township. Madison township
  • National Register reference number. 74001484 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

792 words

This property stands in Madison Township. History of Franklin County [Ohio]:, published 1858 gives that township a chapter of its own.

The chapter covers the township.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Madison Township - 792 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

1 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Bergstresser Covered Bridge between 2010 and 2010, burning about 1 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
11 April 2010Debris and open burning1.0 acresOhio Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Franklin County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 823 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 823 specimens collected within 10 miles of Bergstresser Covered Bridge between 1895 and 1975: 812 Animalia, 6 Fungi, 3 Unrecorded, 1 Plantae, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by C. A. Petrovic, C. H. R., Caldwell and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Erysiphe cichoracearum DC.1895F.L. Stevens
A photograph of the species Allocapnia vivipara, not of this specimenAllocapnia vivipara (Claassen, 1924)1896not recorded
A photograph of the species Ameiurus melas, not of this specimenAmeiurus melas (Rafinesque, 1820)1897R. Osburn & E. WilliamsonMasons Run, Franklin County, Ohio
A photograph of the species Cambarus diogenes, not of this specimenCambarus diogenes Girard, 18521897R.C.O. et al.Lockbourne
A photograph of the species Cambarus robustus, not of this specimenCambarus robustus Girard, 18521897R. Osburn & E. WilliamsonAlum Creek
A photograph of the species Cambarus rusticus, not of this specimenCambarus rusticus Girard, 18521897R. Osburn & E. WilliamsonBig Walnut Creek
A photograph of the species Etheostoma maculatum, not of this specimenEtheostoma maculatum Kirtland, 18401897Osburn, R. C. (Raymond Carroll)Big Walnut Creek, near confluence with Alum and Blacklick Creeks, 2.0 miles NW of Groveport OH, NW Madison Township
Etheostoma sciotense Osburn & Williamson, 18981897R. Osburn & E. WilliamsonBig Walnut Creek, tributary of Scioto River, Ohio
A photograph of the species Fundulus notatus, not of this specimenFundulus notatus (Rafinesque, 1820)1897R. Osburn & E. WilliamsonMasons Run, Franklin County, Ohio
A photograph of the species Hypentelium nigricans, not of this specimenHypentelium nigricans (Lesueur, 1817)1897R. Osburn & E. WilliamsonScioto Big Run, Franklin County, Ohio
A photograph of the species Moxostoma anisurum, not of this specimenMoxostoma anisurum (Rafinesque, 1820)1897R. Osburn & E. WilliamsonOhio or New York, Franklin County, Big Walnut
A photograph of the species Moxostoma erythrurum, not of this specimenMoxostoma erythrurum (Rafinesque, 1818)1897R. Osburn & E. WilliamsonOhio or New York, Franklin County, Big Walnut

All 823 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Bergstresser Covered Bridge: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Big Walnut Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Big Walnut Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Franklin County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

From the nomination file

1,464 words on record

When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.

Description of the property

briefly as follows: upper and lower chords in 2 sections, the ties or new his angling of the braces and posts, the chords in two sections and Bridge) - DEC 1 9 1973 CONDITION Ruins battens. The structure under consideration is a one span covered wooden truss their ends rest against the posts and chords.Mr.Partridge claimed as may be omitted and the ends of the braces sprung together and bolted so bridge over Lt.Walnut Creek.The bridge measures 134 feet from posts are securely bolted to the chords and stand at an angle of 6o with 1971. and are bolted in the middle to the middle of the posts..The ends of (Check One) - Moved tals are projected with a 9 foot overhang and are finished with 2g inch 9", 5}" by 8", 5}" by 7" and 5%" by 6".

The lower chords are 32" by 11" on the portals, its appearance has changed little over the years. The Excellent Good cedar shingles and the siding is vertical white pine boards.The por- Original Site The Bergstresser Bridge is on its original site and except for red paint The abutments are of cut stone laid with mortar.The roof is l6 inch has been replaced when necessary.The entire roof was reshingled in are parallel with each other and pass upon opposite sides of the posts an angle of 45with the horizontal plane.The two braces of each pair is l6 feet with a 13 foot roadway and a 13 foot overhead clearance. and the top chords are 6by 8and 7by 8#.The Partridge truss as

Statement of significance

Reuban Partridge (U. S. Patent #127,791, June 11, 1872) of Marysville, The Bergstresser Bridge is a well-built, sturdy structure, an out- DEC 1 9 1973 1887 REGISTER Conservation Aboriginal NATIONAL Commerce Science Communications Literature Theater Political Landscape Agriculture itarian Music The name Bergstresser comes from one Daniel Bergstresser who owned Pre-Columbian Retigion/Phi- Military the last original covered bridge in Franklin County and one of only Sculpture RECEIVED serves one home and the Canal Winchester sewage plant.

Social/Human- Ford although the mill has been gone for many years.The Partridge The road carried across Lt.Walnut Creek by the Bergstresser Bridge 6 examples of the Partridge truss in existance today.The Franklin truss was undoubtedly chosen ror this bridge because its inventor, The Bergstresser Bridge was built in l887 by the Columbus Bridge Industry Ohio, was an officer in the Columbus Bridge Company at that time. Urban Planning and has placed historical signs over each portal. 17th Century Invention Company at a cost of 2,690.The abutments were laid by M.Corbett.

became SR 674 in the late 1930's and the state assumed ownership of Education Other(Specify) Art County Engineering Department keeps this bridge in excellent condition This is the original bridge on this site.Louis Kramer built a grist 79 acres to the east of the bridge site in section 3l of Madison Twp the bridge.In 1956,the state relocated route 674 and the covered standing example of late 19th century engineering skills.I and saw mill here in l8o8 and the ford was always known as Kramer's

The whole case file for this property - 1,464 words, 12 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 74001484, 12 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Deitz, Samuel, Farmhouse0.2 miles1989
Griffith, James, House0.7 miles1989
Haffey, Parley, Farm Complex0.8 miles1989
Bruns--Wynkoop House0.8 miles1989
Canal Winchester School0.8 miles2007
Epley, Henry J., House0.9 miles1989

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 74001484 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Franklin CountyAll 295 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.