NAME LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION NATXOPJAL REGISTER OF H?STQRIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FOXM. r1 arkch~i~n REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS

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1 UNL3EDST.ATE.S DEYARTf'vIENT OFTHE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATXOPJAL REGISTER OF H?STQRIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FOXM NAME SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLE7ENATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS. HISTORIC u. ~I~SON CREEK COVERED BRIDGE (ALIAS W.T. LAW COVERED BZLX;E) - '7. AND/OR COMMON - at Holen Mill akross Simpson Creek -NOT FOR PuaLlcATloN CIlY,TOWN - ' >.. - CONGRESSIONAL DISTRlCf 2 VICINITY o; Bridgeport 3 STATE CODE.. COUNTY CODE,, ". West Virginia.. 54 Harrlson 063 CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS,DIST~ICT XPUBLK &-,ccupled in service -BUILDING(S) -PRIVATE -UNOCCUPIED XSTRUCTURE,BOTH -WORK IN PROGRESS -SITE PUBLLC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE -OBJECT J N PROCESS -YES- RESTRICTED -BEING CONSIDERED X-YES: U~VRESTRICTED OWN" cr OF PROPERTY NA?A E STREET& NU?AaEil CITY. TOVI."I -NO West Virginia Cepart~.ant of Highways 1900 Washington Street, East ' PRESEN~USE -AGRICULTURE -COM~ERCJAL JIUSEUM -PARK -EDUCATIONAL -PRIVATE RESIDENCE. -ENTERTAINMENT,GOVERNMENT -INDUSTRIAL -MILITARY --RELIGIOUS -SCIENTIFIC XSRANSPORTAT~ON -OTHER: -- STATE Cfiarleston - VICINITY OF West Virginia LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE. REGISTRY OF DEEDS,ETG. Harriosn County Court House... STREET & PIUMBER * ' CITY. TO'>/N r1 arkch~i~n REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE STATE West Virginia DATE OEPOSITORY FOR Nnnp -FEDERAL -STATE -COUNTY -LOCAL

2 I ~DES.C~IP.T~ON CONDITION CHECK ONE CHECK ONE,EXCELLENT,DETERIORATED XUNALTERED -ORIGINAL SITE x_cooo JAlR,RUINS,UNEXPOSED ALTERED I XAIOVED DAT- - ' BESCRIBETHE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNO'NN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE The W. 91. Law Covered Bridge is 14 feet-3 inches wide and is 75.2 feet in length. It has red board-and-batten siding and a corrugated metal roof. The trusses which are of the multiple kingpost type, have nine panels, measuring 11.9 feet in height, All panels are approximately 8 feet-4 inches long. The 7 x 8 inch diagonals fit flush against the top and bottom chords, which are comprised of two- 6 x 8 inch and two-6 x 9% inch members respectively, and into small three sidtd notches made in the 7 x 10 inch verticals. "!?he &enter' panel of the bridge has.no diagonal bracing, which was a common mode of design for tiinber bridges of the multiple kingpost type that had an odd number of panels (1). Because the center panel is unbraced, it must resist loading through the bending of the cords, relying on their continuity (i.e, the top and bottom chords are continuous and. - therefore do not act as members of a pin-connected truss) for stability. The joggle spf ice pieces, which splice the corponents of the bottom chord together are noteworthy, i The bridge still functions with no evidence of modern reinforcement,! b > I I

3 . L. '$. fl SIGNIFICANCE AREAS OF'SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC COMMUNITY PLANNING -LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE 3RCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC,CONSERVATION,LAW AGRICULTURE -ECONOMICS,UTERATLIRE ARCHITECTURE,EDUCATION -MILITARY A R T Z-ENGINEERING,MUSIC,COMMERCE,EXPLORATlON/SETTLEMENT,PHILOSOPHY,COMMUNICATIONS JNDUSTRY -POLITICS/GOVERNMENT JNVENTION,RELIGION -SCIENCE -SCULPNRII -SOCIAUHUMANiMRIAN -THEATER XTRAWP~RTAT~ON -OTHER (SPECIFY) SPECIFIC DATES BUILDER/ARCHITECT &a S. Hugill STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Thomas S. Spates, appointed by the Harrison County Court as a co~ssioner to examine.a site, prepare specifications, and receive bids for the construction af a bridge across Simpson Creek near Shims Mills, made a repor-t: to the court on September 9, 1881 concerning his progress. After he informed the court that &a S. Hugill submitted the lowest bid, ($ for the woodwork and $4.00/perch for the wingwalls and abutments), the court awarded Mr. Hugill the contract. The same day, the court appointed Thomas S. Spates to superintend the construction of the bridge, and ordered that John Lowe be awarded $40.00 for land taken for rightof-way. On December 6, 1881, following Spates',report to the court that Hugill had built the bridge according to the plans and specifications, the court ordered that Hugill be paid a total of $ , $ of which was to be given to John Lowe. Spates was paid $30.00 for his services as a cormnissioner (2). A flood washed out the bridge in July, The bridge was brought back upstream and reconstructed at its present location, which is approximately onehalf mile below its original site. The W. T. Law Covered Bridge is one of the three remaining covered bridges in Harrison County, and the only covered bridge in West Virginia that has multiple kingpost trusses with diagonals absent in the center panels. As a rule of thui~b, wooden arches +ere constructed on bridges which were to have spans approaching 80 feet to avoid excessive deflections. The W. T. Law bridge is significant in that it comes close to the 80 foot span length and does not have stiffening wooden arches.

4 MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 1. "American Wooden Bridges," Committee on History and Heritage of Civil Engineering, ASCE, Historical Publication No. 4, New York, pe 131. brican NY, 1976, 2. General Order Book #1, Harrison County Court, pp. 94, 107. GEOGRAPHf CAI, DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY Not applicable UTM REFERENCES Quad name Clarksburg Quad. scale 1:24000 AW L l [4,3!5r110~6,8J c~ FAENS,, I B ZONE W EASTING L I I ~ * NORTHING ~ J ~ * I I ~ DWJUJIII~II[ VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION.-- STATE LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPESTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES.? CODE COUNTY., -, CODE STATE CODE COUNTY.... ' CODE NAME I TITLE E.L. -- Kexnp, Professor of The History of Science ' & ~echnology and of Civil Engineering ORGANIZATION i a Univers itv , STREET & NUMBER TELEPHONE. 14 Woodburn Hall, Town Canpus, (304) CI i~ G? TOV~PJ STArE Morgantown. West Virginia HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION, DATE THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:. NATIONAL - STATE - LOCAL- nothe designated S:ate Historic Presa-vation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1956 (public Law ). 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the. criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVE SIGNATURE TITLE DATE

5 8. SIMPSON CREEK COVERED BRIDGE

6 8. SIMPSON CREEK COVERED BRIDGE

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