Ohio is the state with the second highest number of covered bridges, with 140. Only Pennsylvania has more. On this visit to Athens, Susan and I wanted to seek out some of the covered bridges of Athens County. They are known locally, but not promoted here as heavily as covered bridges are in other localities.
Covered bridges are picturesque, no matter how old or how large they are or how scenic their setting may be. They make the setting in which one finds them. And, so we set out after our first objective, the Kidwell Covered Bridge. So often covered bridges are in the middle of nowhere. That is true in Athens County. Our GPS took us north from Athens on secondary roads though farmland and woodland. But not past any villages or settlements. We reached the Kidwell Covered Bridge, on Monserat Road, connecting Truetown Road and Ohio Route 13. The bridge entrance is immediately after the turn from Truetown Road. At 70 feet in length, the 1880 bridge spans Sunday Creek. It is considered the newest of the Athens County bridges.
town we had encountered on the drive. It seems once one is out of Athens proper, the county is principally rural farmland. I stopped to fuel. Susan and I then look around the market attached to the gas station and its local products. There was a railway station in town (now disused). It had been the station for the Kanawha & Michigan Railroad, later acquired by the New York Central. The tracks are used by Norfolk Southern today.
The Palos Covered Bridge was just a few miles north of Glouster, on Red Rock Road. The bridge, built in 1876, also spans Sunday Creek and is 78 feet in length. One end of the bridge opens right out onto railroad tracks, the same line seen in Glouster.
Were there any more bridges to see? Google showed us that the Toy Covered Bridge was not too far away. Its across the county line in Morgan County. The surprise in store was the route needed to reach it! We needed to travel over miles of gravel backroads to finally find the bridge. But it was worth it. The Toy Covered Bridge, built in 1875 across San Toy Creek, was
in a fine state of preservation. It had been restored in 2013 and was the most rustic in appearance of the three bridges we saw.
Our return trip to Athens took us though the town of Shawnee, Ohio, in Perry County. The townscape caught my eye as we made the turn from Ohio 155 to Ohio 93. A Baltimore & Ohio Railroad caboose stands at the intersection. The buildings up 2nd Street appeared in a uniquely preserved condition, like a town in amber. We explored further. Downtown Shawnee is a National Register Historic District. But it seemingly a ghost town, as no other people appeared to be about. I took some photos of the structures before moving on. Notable is the overhang porch a small wooden balcony less than the width of the building. Shawnee was a coal mining town. The Ohio coal mines boomed from the 1870s, but the mines began closing in the 1930s as the coal ran out. When the mines closed, the town became depopulated.
There was a third covered bridge in Athens County which we did not see in November 2021. The Blackwood Covered Bridge is south of Athens and probably is the
easiest to reach. We had the opportunity to visit it in March 2022. It is in very good condition structurally. But, perhaps owing to its accessibility, it is covered in graffiti.
