Jericho Covered Bridge at Jerusalem Mill Village!
The overseers of the roads, one of whom was mill owner David Lee, were appointed in 1784. They provided a ford on this site south of the mill so that the towns of Franklinville, Jerusalem, and Jericho were connected, and that grain and flour might be shipped to the port town of Joppa. Although Jericho Road was officially laid out by the county in 1809, the 1860 land plat of the Lee property still shows the site
as being a ford in that year. The present covered bridge was built a few years later.
Although the Jerusalem Road was the major turnpike route (Baltimore and Jerusalem Turnpike, authorized in 1791 and built through Kingsville in 1815), the ford and later the bridge on Jericho Road provided an alternative crossing of the Little Gunpowder Falls, since the Turnpike ford was often subject to closure due to high waters.
The bridge itself is composed of sawn and hewn large timbers supporting the roadway, and smaller timbers supporting the roof, which overhangs the plank flooring by several feet
at both ends. Vertical siding was used to complete the structure. All of the wood for the original bridge was probably produced by Lee's sawmill. The bridge itself was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in September of 1978 and then included in the overall listing for Jerusalem Mill Village in 1987.
According to legend these structures were built so that horses would consider the building a barn, and not be frightened by the waters. Anyone who has ever actually driven or ridden a horse across such a bridge can tell you this is not true as reverberating hollow ring of the decking give the horse much consternation. If anything, the solid walls create an illuminated window at the end encouraging the horse to continue through.
In reality, bridges were a substantial expense, and worth protecting from the elements.
