The Dover Covered Bridge is the oldest of its kind in KY. Can it be saved? | Opinion

Ann Porter is a Dover girl. Those are the first words she tells me over the phone as I call to talk with her about the Dover Covered Bridge in Mason County.

Porter, a member of the Mason County Extension Homemakers, reminisces about walking the bridge daily as a young child, swimming under the bridge and jumping into the creek with a rope swing.

“It means a lot to the people of Dover,” Porter said.

Dover, a small town along the Ohio River, is about 13 miles from the Mason County seat of Maysville.

The bridge, per the National Register of Historic Places, is officially called Lee’s Creek Covered Bridge given its position over Lee’s Creek, but it’s more widely known in Mason County as the Dover Covered Bridge.

Community members in Mason County, and covered bridge enthusiasts alike, are worried the Dover Covered Bridge, perhaps the oldest covered bridge in Kentucky, is on its way into the creek bed below; destroying a piece of history along with it.

Kentucky’s covered bridges

Covered bridges — also called kissing bridges — used to be found all over Kentucky, dotting the countryside of the commonwealth. Now only 11 are left.

Prior to World War II, you could count 65 covered bridges across Kentucky. Over time that number began shrinking; in the years immediately after the Second World War that number became 39. Come the mid-1970s, the number was cut down again to 16.

According to figures from the National Center for Wood Transportation structures at the University of Iowa, there were, at one point in Kentucky’s history, over 700 covered bridges.

Of the 11 bridges still standing, seven of them are in the Buffalo Trace Area Development District, which serves Bracken, Mason, Robertson, Fleming and Lewis counties in northeastern Kentucky. Fleming County is home to the most covered bridges, coming in at three.

There’s always been a fair bit of speculation as to the exact purpose of these covered bridges.

Community bulletin boards, built to avoid spooking horses (the most common form of transport at the time) and for smooching someone you were sweet on. Also, perhaps the most obvious, to make traveling over bodies of water, and in the elements, a bit easier.

Whatever multitude of purposes the bridges served back in the day, they remain loved by people in those communities and elsewhere.

Jeff Harryman runs “The Covered Bridges of Kentucky” Facebook page, which boasts around 4,000 followers.

His fascination with covered bridges started in the 1970s when he found a book that listed all the covered bridges in Kentucky at that time. He started traveling on his own to all the different bridges–spanning the Louisville-area to the border of Virginia.

In recent weeks, Harryman has been using the Facebook page to promote an online petition to save the Dover Covered Bridge. He’s also been proactive in reaching out to people in local and state government to see what assistance they can provide.

“This is the oldest covered bridge in the state of Kentucky, and they’re letting it fall into the doggone river,” Harryman said.

Dover Covered Bridge

The Dover Covered Bridge was built in 1835 and is perhaps the oldest covered bridge in Kentucky, according to the National Register of Historic Places.

At the very least, Dover is the oldest covered bridge still standing in the commonwealth. The Bennett’s Mill Covered Bridge in Greenup County would be a close second to the title, but even that bridge was built in 1855 or 1856.

The bridge has seen two full restorations. The first was in 1928 and the second was in 1966 after a tornado ripped through the area.

Some are now looking for another long-term restoration for the bridge.

Lori Ulrich, chairperson of the Buffalo Trace Covered Wooden Bridge Authority, which works in tandem with other agencies to maintain covered bridges in the area, says the Dover Covered Bridge suffered flooding damage several years ago.

According to the The Ledger Independent in Maysville, the bridge was severely damaged in a July 2017 flood that washed away two steel beams, shifted the bridge from its truss foundation and washed away blacktop at both ends of the roadway.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) approved $75,000 to temporarily stabilize the bridge, which was completed in February 2018, per The Ledger Independent, but work to restore the bridge still hasn’t happened.

The bridge was open to traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian, prior to the flooding but remains closed.

As Harryman heads up an online petition, Ulrich said there are petitions circulating locally that are gaining momentum too.

“We are very proud of our bridges and the heritage they represent in this region,” she said.

Katelyn Bailey, the tourism director for the City of Maysville, has been working with Ulrich and Porter on a campaign to save the bridge.

Bailey said the Dover Covered Bridge boasts tourism in Maysville and Mason County as people will often come on a tour of the bridges in the area and stop there to shop and eat.

Losing the bridge could mean a loss of money in the local economy.

“If we lose Dover, they’ll bypass Maysville,” Bailey said.

What are the next steps?

Ulrich estimates the funds needed to restore the bridge is around $1 to $1.5 million. Those figures come from estimates on similar projects, Ulrich said, and a formal examination hasn’t been completed.

Any work to repair the Dover Covered Bridge falls to KYTC, and there is hope that repair work on Bennett’s Mill Covered Bridge and Goddard Covered Bridge in neighboring Fleming County could bode well for restoration in Dover.

Bailey says they’re requesting those funds be made available for a restoration project in the state’s upcoming budgeting year. She said the city and county are not in an ideal position to fund the project in its entirety.

It’s high time the transportation cabinet, and the state writ large, return to Mason County and finish the work they started five years ago.

Kentucky’s covered bridges are a gem; standing on one is to feel a long forgotten history that I believe is far too precious to simply let fall away if something can be done to save it. We shouldn’t let the number of covered bridges left standing in Kentucky go from 11 to 10.

Working to save the Dover Covered Bridge has made Porter realize how much the bridge means to people locally, in Kentucky and elsewhere. She said a man from Denver, Colorado with roots in the area called her up to support the efforts and sign the petition.

“I sure would like for the younger people to be able to enjoy this covered bridge like I did,” Porter said.