White Rock Forge Covered Bridge, Kirkwood, Pennsylvania
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The White Rock Forge Covered Bridge is located in a peaceful, rural valley in the southeast part of Lancaster County. The bridge spans the west branch of the Octoraro Creek. The bridge has also been called the White Rock Covered Bridge although its official designation is the West Octoraro Bridge 2.
The original bridge was built by John Russell in 1847 making it one of the oldest in the county. It is 103 feet long and 13 feet wide. Although of the standard Burr Arch Truss design, — or, simply, Burr Truss or Burr Arch — it does, though, have one unusual feature – an upward curved floor, known as a camber floor. The original bridge was destroyed by a wind and rain storm in June 1884. The replacement was built in September of the same year by Elias McMellan using the same floor contour.
The typical board and batten siding contains two windows where the bridge meets the T-junction with Township Route 490. These were probably included to allow people to see any oncoming traffic as they exited the bridge and approached the junction. It is painted barn red, the traditional color of Lancaster County covered bridges – there are only three which are not this color – on both the inside and out.
There are 28 covered bridges in Lancaster County, including the nearby Neffs Mill Covered Bridge. Nearly all of the covered bridges in the county are still open to vehicular traffic.
The most comprehensive guide for finding and/or learning about Covered Bridges in this area is Pennsylvania’s Covered Bridges: A Complete Guide by Benjamin D. Evans. It was published quite a few years ago now (but is still available on Amazon) but nothing else even comes close.
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