The 1858 Shushan Covered Bridge is 161 feet, with two spans that cross the Batten Kill in the hamlet of Shushan in Washington County, New York. It is one of 29 surviving historic covered bridges in New York State, and one of 4 surviving covered bridges in Washington County.

Shushan Bridge was built in 1858 by brothers Milton and James Stevens in the patented Town lattice truss, consisting of top and bottom chords of laminated wood plank, and a web of diagonal wood planks connected by wood trunnels at each point of intersection. When originally built, the bridge was supported near the middle by a large pier made of dry-laid stone. The pier, twenty feet square, rose from the still water of a mill pond formed by a dam a short distance downstream. When the dam washed out in the flood of 1927 the pier became an obstruction in the now fast-flowing stream. It was replaced by a narrower pier in 1938.

The total weight of the bridge, including the roof and siding, is estimated at 80 tons. Although posted for a safe load of 5 tons, it has been estimated that it could have safely carried six times that amount.

The Shushan bridge was closed to traffic in 1962 when a new steel bridge was built and the Shushan Covered Bridge was bypassed and left abandoned for 10 years, before being saved by local preservation efforts. In order to build the new bridge, one end of the old bridge was swung out of the way onto a T-shaped pedestal, and the mid-stream pier was eliminated. During that time, however, a leaking roof caused damage to the upper chords, leading to its near collapse in 1974. Shushan residents noticed the bridge visibly sagging and managed to prop it up temporarily with telephone poles.

In May 1974, the Shushan Covered Bridge Association was founded and bought the bridge from Washington County for $1.00, erected a new center pier, and installed a new roof. It now serves as a museum of farm tools, mostly donated by Shushan farmers.

The bridge was individually inventoried by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation in 1977.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 1972.

Located at:  N43 05.477    W73 20.731   -   WGCB #32-58-02

Photographed in May of 2023