The Knox Valley Forge Covered Bridge was originally built in 1851 by Ferdinand Wood at a cost of $843, its span was 50 feet. The Knox Bridge was made of white pine, light in weight, and resistant to worms and weather. Like other covered bridges, it was covered for protection from the weather, to keep off the rain, snow, and sun. The superstructure over the bridge kept water out of the joints, where it might freeze during the winter or cause rotting in the summer, and also kept the bridge from drying.

The bridge was washed away in 1865 by a flood. A replacement was built that year at a cost of $1,179 with s slightly longer 65-foot span. In 1958 the bridge was damaged by fire. When it was rebuilt by the State, steel girders were added to reinforce and strengthen it. The bridge is only one lane wide. Once across, you can access Lafayette's Quarters, Lord Sterling's Headquarters, and Maxwell's Quarters which have been turned into the Wilcox Memorial Library. It is located in Tredyffrin Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The bridge was closed down for a few weeks last year for restoration and painting.

For many years the bridge was known as the Valley Forge Dam Bridge. In the 19th century, there were a number of mills and factories along Valley Creek with a dam near what is now Route 23 providing water power for their operation. The lake formed by the dam was a "very pretty body of water" but with the water level only a foot or so below the road, it also caused flooding from time to time.

Today the bridge is usually identified as the Knox Bridge - though there is some disagreement over which Knox its name is taken; Senator Philander C. Knox or General Henry Knox. It seems more probable that it took its name from the former. In 1903 he purchased 256 acres of land adjacent to the bridge and moved into the old farmhouse west of the bridge that had been the quarters of General William Maxwell during the Valley Forge encampment. He was an attorney and prominent in the Republican party in the early years of the 20th century, serving as Attorney General under President Theodore Roosevelt and as the Secretary of State in the cabinet of President William Howard Taft. He also served two terms as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania.

The suggestion that the bridge may have been named for General Henry Knox stems from the fact that, during the Valley Forge encampment, the 300-pound commander of the Continental artillery had his quarters in the old farmhouse to the east of the bridge during the winter of 1777-1778.

Open to traffic, the length of the largest span is 49.9 feet, a total length of 51.8 feet, and a deck width of 9.8 feet.

Of the 1,500 covered bridges that once stood in the state of Pennsylvania, as of 2019, approximately 200 remain.

Knox Covered Bridge was listed in the National Registry of Historical Places in October of 1966.

Located at:  N40 05.233    W75 27.382     -     WGCB #38-15-15

Photographed in July of 2019.