The 1859 Pool Forge Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that spans the Conestoga River in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The bridge is now on private property where it was once used as a storage barn before the owner added a road to receive vehicle traffic.

Poole Forge bridge has a single span, wooden, double Burr arch trusses design with the addition of steel hanger rods. It is painted entirely red, the traditional color of Lancaster County Covered Bridges on the outside. The inside of the bridge is not painted. Both approaches to the bridge are painted in red without any of the traditional white paint.

Built by Levi Fink and Elias McMellen for $1219 in 1859. It was also known as Yohn’s Mill Bridge. Bypassed by a new concrete bridge in 1973, the bridge is located on private property. Historical records tell us that before James Buchanan became president, he met his fiance at Pool Forge, but she died before they could be married and he became our country’s only bachelor president.

It is included in the Poole Forge historic district as a contributing structure. It has a total length of 99 feet and a width of 15 feet.

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

Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on December 11, 1980.

Located at:  N40 07.792    W75 58.580    -    WGCB #38-36-01

Photographed in July of 2019.