The marker is in the center of the three, not more than 2 feet x 1 foot and made of bronze. It is attached to the stone lead or entrance which works its way up to the portal. The marker is low to the ground and reads as follows:
The Sachs Bridge, built in 1852 by David S. Stoner, is one
of the few remaining bridges built using Connecticut architect
Ithiel Town's lattice system of support trusses. Part of the
Confederate Army of Northern Virginia began its retreat to
Virginia by crossing the bridge after the Battle of Gettysburg
in July of 1863. In 1938, the Pennsylvania Highway Department
determined that the Sachs Bridge was the most historic covered
bridge in the state. It was closed to traffic in 1968 and listed
in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Floodwaters
swept it from its abutments on June 19, 1996. The County of
Adams rehabilitated the bridge by supporting its trusses with
steel beams and by raising its elevation three feet.
There is another interpretive with similar information located on the northeast side of the bridge, about 63 feet away. This interpretive is quite beautiful, held in a thick black frame, and tilted slightly to allow easy viewing. The interpretive reads:
Built for the County by workers under David Stoner in 1852, the Sachs Bridge is an Adams County landmark. It was crossed by both armies during the battle of Gettysburg in 1863, and carried parts of the Army of Northern Virginia as it retreated. Before its 1996-97 rehabilitation, its deck was supported by a truss-lattice based on a design by architect Ithiel Town.
After it washed nearly 100 yards downstream in a flooded Marsh Creek on June 18, 1996, workers salvaged the Sachs Bridge. Within a year it again bridged the creek, with over 90% of its original truss and lattice intact. Its rehabilitation shows the benefits of an effective partnership between people and government. The County worked with many individuals and groups to preserve this part of its history.
The preservation of Adams County's historic and agricultural resources reinforces our sense of place in the world and our understanding of our history. It resists the homogenization so common in modern society and the resulting "geography of nowhere." As recently as the 1930s there were nearly 900 covered bridges in Pennsylvania, the most in the United States. Twenty-four stood in Adams County. Now, only three covered bridges survive in Adams County, with only a few more than 200 in Pennsylvania. They stand as silent documents of the state's rural history.
What keepsakes do you and your family preserve? What historic resources should we preserve? For what reasons?
More About the Marker:
On the right side of the marker is a collection of photographs under the heading: Compare these photographs of the Sachs Bridge. How has the site changed over time? How are these changes reflected in the surrounding landscape? Immediately below the heading is a photograph from June 19, 1996. Swept from its abutments, the bridge rests by the dam downstream. On the lower left of the collection, The 1890s. The Sachs Bridge before the automobile. In the right center The 1930s: Carrying cars between Cumberland and Freedom Townships. And in the lower right 1994: Structural deterioration of a bridge long closed to traffic.
Below the photographs is this attribution: Financial support provided through a Local History Grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the County of Adams, and the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association, 1998.
"The Sachs Covered Bridge was built around 1852 at a cost of $1,544 and was about nine years old when the Civil War began and is one of three covered bridges remaining in Adams County. On July 1, 1863, the bridge was crossed by the two brigades of the I Corps of the Union Army heading towards Gettysburg. The III Corps also crossed the bridge heading to the Black Horse Tavern. Four days later, the majority of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia retreated over the bridge after the Union victory in the Battle of Gettysburg." SOURCE The infantry of Lee's army left the battlefield late on July 4, while the retreating wagons were still crossing the mountains at Cashtown. Portions of James Longstreet's First Corps tramped across the Sachs Bridge en route for the Fairfield Road (today's Route 116). Lee's army moved to Fairfield, where it divided and crossed the mountains through the passes at Fairfield and Monterey. SOURCE
I made a video of the bridge, conducting a walk-through starting from the southwest end and finishing at the northeast end. The video is hosted on YouTube and can be found HERE.
The bridge was designated Pennsylvania's "most historic bridge" in 1938 by the predecessor of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the Department of Highways. After a plan in 1960 to replace the bridge, the Cumberland Township officials voted to close the bridge to vehicular traffic, while leaving it open to pedestrians, on May 9, 1968. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 25, 1980. SOURCE The bridge is also known as Sauck's Covered Bridge, Waterworks Covered Bridge & Sauches Covered Bridge.
The bridge construction is quite interesting. The type of bridge is called a Town Truss which looks like a lattice. A lattice bridge is a form of truss bridge that uses a large number of small and closely spaced diagonal elements that form a lattice. It was patented by Connecticut architect Ithiel Town in 1820 and 1835 as Town's lattice truss. I found the interior to be very interesting and quite unique. Be sure to look at the close-ups in the photo gallery. The truss design was developed by Ithiel Town of Connecticut and consists of wooden beams "crisscrossed" to form a lattice. The bridge was one of few remaining Town truss bridges in Pennsylvania. The bridge is 100 feet (30 m) long and 15 feet 4 inches (4.67 m) wide and it spans the Marsh Creek. The bridge has horizontal clapboard siding, a sheet metal roof, and wide diagonal floor planks
"On June 19, 1996, a flash flood knocked the bridge from one of its abutments and it incurred substantial damage; an iron bridge on the Marsh Creek was also heavily damaged and another destroyed. A $500,000 restoration on the bridge was already in progress before the flood; an additional $100,000 was raised to repair the damage incurred. The bridge was rededicated on July 21, 1997." SOURCE Over 75% of its original structure was used in the reconstruction and approximately 90% of the original wood was retained. In the reconstruction, the bridge was rebuilt by supporting the trusses with steel beams, and raising its elevation by three feet.
Boo!:
Many people believe the bridge and area to be quite haunted. Full bodied apparitions, disembodied voices, cold spots
and people being touched have been reported on more than one occasion from Sachs Bridge. One ghost story told
about the bridge's haunted past includes three Confederate soldiers who deserted their unit, and were caught. It is
believed that these three men were hung on this bridge as their punishment. An alternative explanation to the legend says there was three Confederate soldiers convicted of being spies were hanged from beams in the covered bridge, and Union soldiers patrolling the area discovered their bodies. Their spirits were said to haunt the bridge. Other reports had people claim they sometimes smelled General Lee smoking his pipe when they were standing on the bridge. SOURCE
Address:
195 Water Works Rd
Gettysburg, PA 17325