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Christman, Preble County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: OH/35-68-12
County: Preble County
Township: Washington
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Christman
Crosses: Seven Mile Creek
Truss type: Childs
Spans: 1
Length: 92'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1895
Builder: Everett S. Sherman
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N39 46.217
Longitude: W084 39.308
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 1.6 miles north of jct US35 on US127, then 0.8 miles left on Washington Jackson Rd. (TR50), then 0.35 left on Eaton New Hope Rd. Northwest of Eaton.

Christman Bridge, Washington, Preble County, OH Built 1895
Bill Eichelberger Photo, January 1987

Christman Bridge, Washington, Preble County, OH Built 1895
Larry Cunningham Photo

Comments:
11-panel truss. Per The Register-Herald (Eaton), May 11,1960, No. 12 was built in 1895 and with No. 3 and No. 14, marked the end of covered bridge building in Preble County. It spans Seven Mile Creek on the Eaton-New Hope Road in Washington Township and is about one mile northwest of Eaton. Perewinkle Run flows into Seven Mile Creek just below this bridge site. "The flooring on the bridge is the original beech planking with no top runways; it is on a skew with the creek; the clear span is 84 feet; shed length 112 feet; outside width 18 feet 11 inches; horizontal clearance 15 feet; and vertical clearance 12 feet 5 inches. There is an odd number of bents, eleven, which leaves the center one blank." Stenciling on the lower side of the top chord about mid-way in the north truss of this bridge states that the lumber came from the firm of Cobbs and Mitchell of Cadillac, Mich. The longest timbers we have found in any of our covered bridges are 42 feet, a length probably determined by the transportation facilities of that day.

Sources:
Clark, Todd. Information received by email, April 2010
The Register-Herald (Eaton), May 11, 1960.
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XV, No. 2, July 1957, page 5
Wood, Miriam. Ohio Covered Bridge Index, Preble County
Connecticut River Valley Covered Bridge Society. Bulletin, Volume X, No. 1 (Summer 1963), page 5
Wood, Miriam F. & Simmons, David A.. Covered Bridges: Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, 2007, pages 148, 159
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 82

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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