Foxcatcher Farm Covered Bridge - Fair Hill, MD
N 39° 42.585 W 075° 50.259
18S E 428196 N 4395878
An original plank road is featured on this Bowstring (chord type) and Howe Truss Bridge, built between 1850 and 1860 and located on Tawes Drive in the Fairview Hill Natural Resource Management Area in Cecil County, Maryland.
Waymark Code: WMHZPW
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 09/01/2013
Views: 2
This bridge is 80 feet long and 13 feet wide and is closed to most traffic. The bridge was constructed in 1860 for the Cecil County Commissioners, at a cost of $1,165. In 1994, the bridge received the State's Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Award. The bridge is one of only two covered bridges in Cecil County, the other being Gilpin's Falls Bridge, built in 1860 over Northeast Creek.
Found this on another website: "(1860) Single-span multiple Kingpost truss with Burr Arch 80' 2" over Big Elk Creek. Located: In Fair Hill, Maryland on Tawes Drive." SOURCE
From my waymark on 8/18/2007
In 1860 Ferdinand Wood was contracted by Cecil County to build a bridge over Lower Hills Fording. Its red roof and walls were added to protect the wooden frame from the elements. In 1927 the area around the bridge was purchased by William Dupont as part of his recreational farm and named Foxcatcher Farm. Upon his death the Department of Natural Resources took over the land. By then the bridge was showing the signs of age. In 1950 a truck broke through the floorboards and fell into the creek below. It wasn't until 1992 that the Department of Natural Resources rebuilt it. While false work supported the original roof, the bridge underneath was completely redone with a steel frame. The old Kingpost splices and Burr Arch chord timber was preserved and used to maintain the bridge's original appearance. It is registered with the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges.