(
Bridge Hunter;
Satellite)
Also near Princeton is the
oldest covered bridge in Illinois, 1863.
JJ Slayback Just Another Townie
posted two photos with the comment:
Most folks build a new bridge to replace an old one. Up around Princeton, Illinois, they decided to do things a little differently. They went backward in time to move forward.
The Captain Swift Covered Bridge crosses Big Bureau Creek on Epperson Road, about a mile west of town. And while it looks like something that ought to have a horse and buggy coming out the other end, it wasn't built until 2006.
The old iron bridge that stood here dated back to 1915. After nearly a century of carrying traffic, its better days were behind it. Rather than replace it with another ordinary steel or concrete crossing, the folks in Bureau County decided to build something that might have looked right at home a century earlier.
They borrowed a page from the early 1800s, using a design based on Theodore Burr's old wooden bridge system. The result was a 128 foot [39m] span with enough room for two lanes of modern traffic. In fact, it's considered the only two lane covered bridge in Illinois.
They named it after Captain Samuel T. Swift, an early settler who came to Bureau County back in the 1830s. The outside was covered in Douglas fir, left unpainted so the Illinois weather could do what it does best.
I suppose some folks might wonder why anybody would build a covered bridge in the 21st century. After all, we spent the better part of a hundred years replacing them with something newer.
But standing there looking at that big wooden bridge, I couldn't help but admire the thought that went into building something new to look so old. I suppose there's something to be said for a county that decided the past was worth bringing back.
I know most people admire the old ones, but I figured there might be room for one that was built yesterday to look like it belonged a hundred years ago.
Nick Stabler: Princeton, IL has another, more historic, covered bridge, “
The Red Covered Bridge”, across the same creek. The RCB is currently being rebuilt/restored after a semi tried to cross her in 2023.
JJ Slayback Just Another Townie: Rick Stabler yes, completely missed it when I was up there last. Won't make that mistake again.
JJ Slayback Just Another Townie
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| 2008 photo by Sean Flynn via BridgeHunter |
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| 2019 photo by Jack Schmidt via BridgeHunter |
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