Discover New Jersey’s Forgotten Covered Bridges

Feb. 28, 2014 - PRLog -- Glimpse scenes of the covered bridges of yesteryear in New Jersey’s Covered Bridges, the next book in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series.  The book by local author Richard J. Garlipp Jr. displays more than 200 vintage images of the covered bridges that once dotted the New Jersey landscape.

In this new pictorial history vintage images display the forty-five covered bridges that once crossed waterways in all corners of the New Jersey. Perhaps the most extraordinary examples of these wooden bridges were found along the western border, crossing the Delaware River into neighboring Pennsylvania. Author Richard J. Garlipp Jr. discusses how these bridges were feats of construction and engineering but were ultimately unable to prevent the inevitable fate of almost all the covered bridges of the state. The covered bridges vanished namely to ice, floods and fire as well as the development of new materials and technology.

Today, only one covered bridge survives in New Jersey. Modern images of the Green Sergeant’s covered bridge in Hunterdon County show how this bridge over the Wickecheoke Creek has stood the test of time. The preservation of existing bridges is another major focus of the book. Garlipp writes, “I hope the reader will become more aware of the plight of existing covered bridges and help in some way to save and preserve them.” New Jersey’s Covered Bridges showcases the rich transportation history of these structures and pictorially honors the lost ones.

Highlights of New Jersey’s Covered Bridges include:

•Information on how one bridge company also served as the local bank.
•Stories about the “Pumpkin Flood” of 1903 that destroyed many Delaware River covered bridges.
•The destruction of the long covered bridge at Stockton from a lightning strike fire.
•Images of a beautiful arched covered bridge built over the Great Falls in Paterson.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States.  Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places.  Have we done a book on your town?  Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.