Harpersfield Covered Bridge spans the Grand River, a tributary that collects Cleveland area water and drops it into Lake Eire. Built in 1868 in the wake of the Civil War, the bridge remained standing when floodwaters from the Great Flood of 1913 washed away the land at the north end of the bridge. Covered bridges stay erect by using a truss design which simultaneously holds the vertical length up by compressing some elements and putting tension on other elements, so there was no way to simply extending the bridge. Instead, what was created was just two independent bridges, connected together.

And so it was in 1913 that the steel expanse connected the settled northern bank with the covered bridge. It creates a unique, cobbled-together appearance, but remains on of the longest covered spans in Ohio.

And I almost climbed into the wrong car as I was leaving.
In front of the car’s owners.

They were not pleased.