Larkin - 1854
The 1854 Larkin Covered Bridge is a 60-foot-long, Burr truss wooden covered bridge located in Chester Springs, Chester County, Pennsylvania near the village of Eagle. Larkin bridge, which originally crossed over Marsh Creek, now spans a dry ditch and is a feature of the Upper Uwchlan Township trail system.
The original Larkin's Bridge was built in 1854 to span Marsh Creek, a tributary of the east branch of the Brandywine Creek, besides Jesse Larkin's Gristmill near the village of Milford Mills, 2.5 miles southwest of its current location. The bridge was rebuilt in 1881.
In 1972, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquired the Larkin Bridge and relocated it 1 mile to the north prior to the evacuation of Milford Mills and the creation of Marsh Creek Lake in Marsh Creek State Park. The bridge was used as a pedestrian crossing between two-day camps in the new state park.
In 1998, Upper Uwchlan Township acquired the bridge and in 2006 the township government worked with developers (Toll Brothers, Orleans, and K. Hovnanian) to dismantle and relocate the bridge. Larkin Covered Bridge was rebuilt on the trail path next to the entrance to the Byers Station housing development on Graphite Mine Road near the village of Eagle.
Of the 1,500 covered bridges that once stood in the state of Pennsylvania, as of 2019, approximately 200 remain.
Larkin Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Located at: N40 04.949 W75 41.134 - WGCB #38-15-11
Photographed in May of 2015.