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Kentucky’s covered bridges are gradually disappearing. Here’s 3 you can explore

The second installment in our series exploring Kentucky’s remaining covered bridges takes us further afield to Robertson and Fleming counties.

Fleming is actually home to three surviving covered bridges, the most of any Kentucky county.

Once, you could take a road-trip across the state and count 65 such bridges, but in the years immediately after World War II, the number shrank to 39. By the mid-1970s, only 16 were left, according to information from the National Register of Historic Places.

This summer, the Herald-Leader is working to document the final 11 kissing bridges standing in the Bluegrass State, and to do so, we’re telling their stories, according to archived documents from the National Register of Historic Places.

If you missed the first installment, it included the Colville Covered Bridge and Switzer Covered Bridge.

Our second installment walks you along three more: Goddard, Johnson Creek and Ringo’s Mill covered bridges.

At the end, read about how you can contribute to sharing the stories and legacies of these structures.

Goddard “White” Bridge, Fleming County

The Goddard Bridge is located in Fleming County and Crosses Sand Lick Creek. The bridge is still open to traffic.
The Goddard Bridge is located in Fleming County and Crosses Sand Lick Creek. The bridge is still open to traffic.

Notable as the only surviving example of Town Lattice bridge design left standing in Kentucky, the Goddard Bridge’s original construction date has been lost to time, as has its original builder.

What we do know is the Ithiel Town Lattice design it embodies dates to 1820, so at the least, it’s more than 200 years old, the bridge’s National Register of Historic Places nomination form suggests. Ithiel Town, the namesake for the design, was an American architect and engineer who died in 1844.

The bridge’s nomination form, which was entered Aug. 22, 1975, attests that the bridge was standing strong at the time.

“The bridge is still in regular use and gets daily school bus traffic,” the document’s narrative notes.

The Goddard Bridge is located in Fleming County and Crosses Sand Lick Creek. The bridge is still open to traffic.
The Goddard Bridge is located in Fleming County and Crosses Sand Lick Creek. The bridge is still open to traffic.

According to the document, the bridge was originally located just 1 mile south of the Goddard community.

In 1933, when Kentucky Highway 32 was being rebuilt, the bridge faced demolition. However, instead it was carefully taken apart piece by piece, its timbers numbered, and rebuilt where it stands now, roughly 8 miles south of Flemingsburg on Maddox Road in Goddard.

It was in 1968 when Louis “Stock” Bower of Flemingsburg supervised the bridge’s restoration, replacing its lateral braces, siding and other repairs.

The bridge was painted white before its restoration, according to its National Register of Historic Places document. The pattern woven by its system of timbers forms a diamond-shaped window visible from both sides of the bridge.

To locals, it is “The White Bridge.”

Bridge coordinates: 38°21′44″N 83°36′56″W

Distance from Lexington: About an hour and 20 minutes

Johnson Creek Covered Bridge, Robertson County

The Johnson Creek Covered Bridge is located in Roberson County, Ky., and crosses Johnson Creek. The bridge, originally built around 1874, is open for foot traffic.
The Johnson Creek Covered Bridge is located in Roberson County, Ky., and crosses Johnson Creek. The bridge, originally built around 1874, is open for foot traffic.



Originally built in 1874, the Johnson Creek Covered Bridge was built by another Bower – specifically Jacob N. Bower, whose son and grandson were both named Louis.

Bower came to Kentucky from Virginia and is said to have constructed, as well as repaired, bridges in many surrounding states, such as in Ohio and Indiana, according to bridge’s National Register of Historic places documentation.

Accessible via Kentucky Route 1029 and almost 2 miles northeast of Kentucky Route 165, the bridge crosses Johnson Creek over an old buffalo trace – a path trodden by millions of migrating buffalo and later used by pioneers and settlers traveling west.

The bridge is 4 miles north of the Blue Licks Battlefield State Park in Robertson County. There, soldiers fought the final battle of the Revolutionary War that took place in Kentucky and one of explorer Daniel Boone’s sons died.



The Johnson Creek Covered Bridge is located in Roberson County, Ky., and crosses Johnson Creek. The bridge, originally built around 1874, is open for foot traffic.
The Johnson Creek Covered Bridge is located in Roberson County, Ky., and crosses Johnson Creek. The bridge, originally built around 1874, is open for foot traffic.



Sometime around 1912, Jacob Bower’s son Louis added an arch on each side to support the increased traffic on the bridge, which totals 114 feet in floor length and is 16 feet wide. Those measurements were taken by Louis S. Bower, grandson of Jacob Bower, the bridge’s National Register of Historic places nomination form indicates.

According to the form, stamped Sept. 27, 1976, the structure is notable for being the only known example of Robert J. Smith’s truss design in Kentucky and the only surviving covered bridge known to have been built by Jacob N. Bower, who lived from 1819 to 1906.

Bridge coordinates: 38°28′52″N 83°58′37″W

Distance from Lexington: About an hour

Ringo’s Mill Bridge, Fleming County

The Ringo’s Mill Bridge is located in Fleming County, Ky. While closed to vehicles, the bridge is open to foot traffic.
The Ringo’s Mill Bridge is located in Fleming County, Ky. While closed to vehicles, the bridge is open to foot traffic.

The Ringo’s Mill Covered Bridge – along with the surrounding community – sprouted in the mid-19th century, anchored by the grist mill there that operated on Fox Creek.

The bridge’s exact age isn’t mentioned on its National Register of Historic Places nomination form.

The nomination form describes it as “about thirty-nine paces long, it is another example of the early agricultural economy.”

Ringo’s Mill Bridge sits nearly 14 miles south of Flemingsburg on Kentucky 158 and 3 miles southeast of the Kentucky 158 and 111 junction. It is about 90 feet long.

The Ringo’s Mill Bridge is located in Fleming County, Ky. While closed to vehicles, the bridge is open to foot traffic.
The Ringo’s Mill Bridge is located in Fleming County, Ky. While closed to vehicles, the bridge is open to foot traffic.

According to the documentation, dated March 26, 1976, the bridge had fallen into disrepair by the time of its nomination.

“Still retaining its original double-walled yellow poplar siding over its yellow pine trusses, it rests on abutments of soapstone or nature’s ‘red stone’ covered with a concrete facing …

“Bypassed with a newer concrete structure, it has since received little maintenance. Bottom chords have pulled apart and a bad list has developed in the walls,” the document states, referring to the then-tilting structure.

According to the document, Ringo’s Mill Bridge “and the Hillsboro Bridge, downstream, are generally accepted to have had common builders and dates of origin.”

Bridge coordinates: 38°16′6″N 83°36′38″W

Distance from Lexington: A little more than an hour

About this series

Kentucky is home to 11 covered bridges that remain standing today.

If you have an memory, older photographs or an experience to share about the history of the above structures, or any of the remaining covered bridges, we welcome you to email ask@herald-leader.com. We may include your tips in our stories.

Follow along with our series to learn more about Kentucky’s other extant covered bridges.