Photo of Bunker Hill Covered Bridge courtesy of Historical Association of Catawba County

Built in 1895, the Bunker Hill Covered Bridge is the oldest of only two remaining covered bridges in North Carolina. The bridge gained the prestige of being a National Civil Engineering Landmark in 2001. Others given this prestige from North Carolina include the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The bridge was built upon request of the Catawba County Commissioners in 1894. The Commissioners asked the owners of Bunker Hill Farm, the farm from which the bridge gained its name, to build a bridge that would cross Lyle Creek on Island Ford Road, two miles east of Claremont on Highway 70. The owners hired Andrew L. Ramsour, a local carpenter and businessman, to build the bridge.

Ramsour used an 1839 bridge patent granted to General Herman Haupt as a base for his design. General Haupt was a distinguished bridge engineer and designer who eventually became Chief of the Bureau of United States Military Railroads in the Civil War. The Bunker Hill Covered Bridge is the only remaining example, in wood, of the Improved Lattice Truss patented by General Haupt.

The bridge crosses over Lyle Creek with a length of 85 feet. In 1900, the bridge was covered, countering its originally constructed open span. The wood shingles roof was replaced with a tin roof in 1921. With the donation of the bridge to the Catawba County Historical Association by members of the Bolick family in 1985, as well as the expertise of Arnold M. Graton, a master bridgewright, the bridge was restored in 1994.

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

Along with its Civil War ties through General Haupt, the bridge has associations with the American Revolution. After the Battle of Cowpens in 1781, General Daniel Morgan took 531 British prisoners and headed north. The group crossed Lyle Creek at the Bunker Hill Ford on their way to Island Ford Road.

The bridge is open from dawn to dusk daily. Updates on the bridge’s accessibility can be found at http://catawbahistory.org/bunker-hill-covered-bridge, the website of the Historical Association of Catawba County.