The 1889 St. Mary's Covered Bridge, also known as Shade Gap Covered Bridge and Huntingdon County Bridge No. 8, is a historic wooden covered bridge located at Cromwell Township in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. The bridge is a 65.25-foot-long (19.89 m) and 16.5-foot-wide (5.0 m) Howe truss bridge with cut stone abutments that crosses Shade Creek and is the only remaining authentic covered bridge in Huntingdon County.

This bridge is a single-span structure, 66 feet in length, and is one of only four Howe Truss bridges remaining in Pennsylvania. In 1982, this bridge was repaired and renovated by the Huntingdon County Commissioners, and at that time, four 27-inch steel I-beams were installed under the original timber floor system of the structure, making it, in effect, a single-span I-beam bridge.

From the Huntingdon County Historical Society files by Robert H. Cree:

“In the Minute Book of the Huntingdon County Commissioners for the year 1896 are found the following entries:

April 16 – Bids opened for bridge near Catholic Church, north of Shade Gap

April 23 – Bid for above bridge awarded to Contractor E.O. Rogers for the sum of $540.00.

On page 441 of the “Shade Gap Area Centennial Book” is the following notation: “The historic Shade Gap Covered Bridge is located near Shade Gap Narrows. It was built in approximately 1895.”

Although there was a bronze plaque placed on the bridge by the Huntingdon County Commissioners, which states that the bridge was built in 1889, it would appear from the above noted information that it was, in fact, built in 1896.” [1]

St. Mary's Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Located at:  N40 12.353   W77 52.685    -    WGCB #38-31-01

Photographed in June of 2025

Photos by Millard Farmer

[1] www.huntingdonhistoryresearchnetwork.net/research-topics/st-marys-covered-bridge