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Leatherman, Washington County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: PA/38-63-20
County: Washington County
Township: North Bethlehem
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Leatherman
Crosses: South Branch Pigeon Creek
Truss type: Queen
Spans: 1
Length: 45' overall, 36' span
Roadway Width: 12'
Built:
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N40 07.221
Longitude: W080 05.499
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 2.3 miles southeast of jct PA519 on US40, then 1.3 miles left on Valleyview Rd. (TR445) and 0.7 miles left on Leatherman Bridge Rd. (TR449). Northwest of Cokeburg.

Leatherman Branch, Bridge, North Bethlehem, PA
© Lisa Plamondon

Leatherman Bridge, North Bethlehem, Washington County, PA
Bill Caswell Photo, July 26, 2014

Comments:
County Bridge #35. Like many Washington County Bridges, this one has vertical siding painted red inside and out with a small opening at the top. There are two windows on each side near the portals. According to a covered bridge booklet put out by the Washington County Planning Commission, the following is stated: "All the timbers of the Queenpost construction are sawed, suggesting that the bridge was built after 1860. It is unclear for whom the bridge was named; however, Joseph Letherman, one of the area's earliest doctors, lived in the vicinity for a brief period of time." It is oriented nearly east to west in North Bethlehem Township, which in the 1876 atlas, was part of West Bethlehem Township, on Letherman Bridge Road (T449). A right off the eastern end continues Letherman Bridge Road and the T449 designation, while a left is a private drive, called Covered Bridge Lane, that leads back to some dwellings.

Sources:
Evans, Benjamin D. & June R.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges, 2001, page 280
Travis, Dale. Pennsylvania Covered Bridges List, updated to 26 Aug 2004, http://www.dalejtravis.com/cblist/cbpa.htm (23 Sep 2004)
Moll, Fred J.. Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges - Our Heritage, 2004, pages 132-133
Kipphorn, Thomas. Information received by email, May 2008
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 133

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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