You won’t have to walk a crooked mile, but there are several places along the National Road in Ohio where you can walk a crooked bridge. Dating back to Jefferson’s era, these strange engineering feats are known as “S” bridges. And while they are not unique to Ohio, the Buckeye state is best known for them.
I spoke with Dixie Wyler, sales manager at the Cambridge/Guernsey County Visitors and Convention Bureau who conveyed, “Bridges evoke excitement in people.” Talking further about the popularity of these landmarks, she said, “The S bridges are a bit magical, I think. They are so unique...so different.” She added, “We had a gentleman and his wife visit last week who wanted to stop at every S bridge in Ohio.”
Flipping to the Ohio National Road Association’s guidebook, traveling the Road, “There’s lots of folklore concerning their shape.” As the guidebook explains, “One story suggests the S shape forced drivers to slow their horses. Some said the bridges were originally built around huge trees, while others claimed they were the result of inebriated bridge builders.”
The truth about their odd shape is a little less colorful. The unusual design was employed where the road came to a stream at an angle. Since constructing a bridge at an angle was more difficult and expensive than building the bridge straight across, the actual crossing was constructed perpendicular to the banks. The two approaches constructed at the angle needed to allow traffic to flow smoothly onto and off the bridge, thus creating the 'S’' shape.
Today, there are five S bridges remaining out of a larger number now lost to time. If you start on the National Road just over the bridge from WheelingFind, West Virginia, and travel east to west, you will reach them in this order:
Photo of Zanesville Ohio's Y Bridge, circa 1940s, from the Author's personal collection.
About five miles from the Ohio line at the western edge of the village of Blaine, is Ohio's oldest bridge, the historic sandstone Blaine Hill S-Bridge, constructed in 1828. Its three stone arches span approximately 345 feet, also making it the longest bridge on the National Road in the state.
In 1933, the Blaine Hill Viaduct was constructed when it became apparent that the narrow bridge could no longer handle the increased automobile traffic traveling the National Road. The bridge was closed in 1994 because of its poor condition; parts of the bridge had lost stone and sections of the original stone walls had shifted. Preservation efforts helped save the bridge from demolition and it reopened in 2005 as a historic site. Now at 178 years of age, the Blaine Hill “S” Bridge is the oldest crossing remaining on the National Road.
To access the bridge, veer off Route 40 onto Pasco Drive immediately before the abutment at the eastern end of the Route 40 viaduct in Blaine.
Travel 28 miles from Blaine to Middlebourne, and take the fork to the right onto Blend Road. In approximately ¼ mile you’ll come to the 1828 Salt Fork “S” Bridge. Through 2013, it was the only S bridge on the National Road on which you could actually drive. However, heavy traffic caused the bridge to deteriorate and it was closed to traffic by the county. There are discussions about restoring the bridge and making the site a park.
Continue west to the intersection of Cooks Run Road, two miles before the Cambridge City limits. Just a few hundred feet north of Route 40 (called East Pike Road in this spot); just off the southeast corner of the intersection sits the Cooks Run Stone Bridge which is likely the remnant of an Ohio “S” bridge no longer possessing its stone sidewalls.
Getting out of your vehicle and walking the 50-yards on foot will give you the chance to simultaneously experience up-close and personal, three eras of old road history. Looking towards Cooks Run, you will notice a distinct berm. Under that sits the old circa 1828 bridge and what remains of an abandoned section of original National Road dating to the bridge’s construction.
A 1936 alignment with a more modern bridge runs alongside the north edge of the old stone bridge. Construction of the 1936 alignment and Route 40 had actually buried the old bridge - it was rediscovered and uncovered in 2002. You can also see the more modern alignment of Route 40 a few hundred feet to the south rounding out two centuries of roadways less than 100 yards apart.
Approximately three miles from the western city limits of Cambridge is the Peter’s Creek S Bridge. The history of the bridge is connected to another famous road, Zane’s Trace, and a log bridge that once spanned the creek just north of this location. With the building of the National Road, the log crossing was abandoned in favor of this stone bridge.
Eventually, automobile traffic necessitated realigning the road to better serve cars and the narrow bridge was abandoned. As recently as 2005, the bridge was in serious need of repair and endangered, requiring complete rehabilitation to save it. Today, the Peter’s Creek S-Bridge sits restored in a small park slightly north of U.S. 40, along a short piece of the original National Road.
Nine miles further west is the historic village of New Concord. Just outside of the west edge of town is the S bridge spanning Fox Run, also built around 1828. It was used into the early 20th century when Route 40 was realigned. Today, the Fox Run “S” Bridge sits in a small park and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Photo opportunities are fantastic.
If all the S bridges are not fascinating enough, continue 16 miles more miles west on the National Road to Zanesville to the “must-see” Y-shaped bridge. The three-span bridge crosses the Licking and Muskingum rivers at their confluence. Two roads, Route 40 (called West Main Street in town) and Linden Avenue, converge on the bridge.
The first Y bridge was built in 1814 of wood on limestone piers. Above the center pier was a tollhouse that collected fares for users of the bridge. That first bridge collapsed into the river. Its replacement, a covered Y-shaped bridge was constructed in 1819. Heavy National Road traffic weakened this second bridge, and it collapsed into the river as well. A third bridge was built in 1832 designed to handle the traffic along the National Road. That bridge served until 1902 when a fourth structure was completed that carried both streetcars and auto traffic. That bridge was replaced by the current Y bridge, opened in 1984.
(Material excerpted from William Flood’s book, Driving the National Road and Route 40 in Ohio: Then and Now. Anticipated release, January 2020).