Henderson County Covered Bridge

Henderson County Covered Bridge. . The original covered bridge was built in the fall of 1866 by Jacob Allaman at a total cost of $2,125.00. The bridge carried traffic until 1934. In 1935 the Illinois Division of Highways acquired the bridge from Henderson County, and it became the feature structure in a rest area park. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in February of 1975. , In July of 1982 flood water washed the bridge from its abutments, and it floated downstream lodging against the Illinois Route 164 Bridge. Local citizens and the Illinois Department of Transportation crews salvaged the bridge from Henderson Creek. The Henderson County Historical Society launched a campaign to rebuild the bridge, and in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Transportation, the covered bridge was reconstructed in 1984., The bridge was rebuilt, using most of the salvaged, original timbers, on the same location, but raised 3 - 1/2 feet. The bridge has an overall length of 104 feet, a width of 13 feet, and is 12 feet high. Ray Shafer of Biggsville, Illinois was the master builder in the 1984 reconstruction.