THE UNABRIDGED STORY: Defining Ohio’s shortest covered bridge can be quite a stretch

COLUMBIANA COUNTY − By the time I pulled into the parking lot next to The Lock 24 Restaurant on Ohio 154, the groundhogs had given up on seeing their shadows and gone back to bed. As had the people in neighboring houses.

Almost 10 a.m. and not a soul was stirring. And no sign of life at the restaurant. According to The Lock 24 Restaurant Facebook page, it had closed in 2019.

A sign posted by the Elkrun Township Tourism Bureau boldly proclaimed I had arrived at the site of “THE SHORTEST COVERED BRIDGE IN THE UNITED STATES.” Whether it actually is the shortest in the U.S. is open to interpretation. Add to that a dubious challenge from Ashtabula County. More about that later.

It’s a good thing the sign was there. Otherwise I might have driven by and not seen the Church Hill Covered Bridge. At just over 19 feet long, it could easily be mistaken for a shed.

Sights along the way to Beave Creek State Park

It was Groundhog Day and I was on the first leg of a three-day, two-night road trip through eastern Ohio. I desperately needed to do some camping, hiking, canoeing and − most of all − driving around aimlessly and looking for interesting stuff. It turned out to be all I could hope for, a serendipitous journey interwoven with unexpected connections before, during and after the trip.

Mom said never talk to strangers. Somewhere along the road of life I added, “And never heed their advice.” (I hardly ever listen to my own advice.)

I ignored all that and, based on the recommendation of a guy I met in Perrysville, I set out to explore Beaver Creek State Park. That encounter quickly evolved into a rough itinerary, which included a stop at the Church Hill Covered Bridge.

The bridge was built in 1870 over a narrow stretch of Middle Fork of Little Beaver Creek. A hundred years later, it remained structurally sound but looked worse for wear and vandalism. Some of the planks had been busted out and graffiti scrawled on the walls. Even so, in 1975 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Preservationists moved the Church Hill Covered Bridge to its present site in 1982 and rebuilt it over a dry remnant of the Sandy and Beaver Canal.

Billed as shortest covered bridge in USA

At 19.3 feet, it’s billed as the shortest covered bridge in the U.S. Or the shortest in Ohio, by some accounts. However, in 2011, some folks up in Ashtabula County built the West Liberty Street Covered Bridge over a culvert and claimed that − at 18 feet, four inches − it was the shortest one in the world. Or, more specifically, the shortest traffic-bearing covered bridge in the world. Students from Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School helped build it.

It’s not so much a covered bridge as it is a bridge with a roof. To be honest, the West Liberty Street Covered Bridge looks more like someone put a road through a picnic pavilion.

They have every right to be proud of their little bridge. It took some imagination and considerable effort to build it. And it serves as an exclamation point to Ashtabula County’s distinction of having the most covered bridges in Ohio, including the longest − and now the shortest.

Still.

On to Sandy and Beaver Canal

The Groundhog Day visit to the Church Hill Covered Bridge was my first exposure to the Sandy and Beaver Canal. I knew very little about this privately built spur, which served as a link from the Ohio and Erie Canal in Bolivar to the Ohio River at Glasgow, Pennsylvania.

Historians describe the Sandy and Beaver as “ill-fated.” In spite of all the backbreaking work and incredible craftsmanship that went into it, the canal was plagued with problems and short-lived. Just four years by some accounts.

However, on this trip, it served as a link between Beaver Creek State Park, where I camped Friday night, to Towpath Trail Peace Park near Bolivar, where I spent Saturday night. I  hadn’t been aware of the canal connection; it was just another one of those unexpected coincidences on this journey.

During my stay at Beaver Creek State Park, I’d visit a few of the still-intact canal locks. There are seven within the boundaries of the 2,700-acre park. More on that in a future column.

More on The Lock 24 Restaurant

Postscript: As I said earlier, this was a trip marked by serendipity and unexpected connections − before, during and after the fact. Serendipity once again came into play when I sat down to write this column. I contacted the Lisbon Area Chamber of Commerce to check on the status of The Lock 24 Restaurant, to see whether it was still closed. In an email, chamber executive director Angela Benner responded, “They are actually opening soon under new ownership, as Elkton's Pub & Restaurant.”

According to co-owner Mark Perry, Elkton’s Pub & Restaurant’s grand opening is scheduled for March 6.

He and his wife Cassandra had been regulars when it was Lock 24, loved the building, and wanted to recreate a traditional pub experience with their new venture.

“It has such an incredible feeling, almost as if you are going to someone’s home,” Mark wrote in an email. “The wood plank paneling, hardwood floors, rough-cut timbers and huge foundation stones were quarried on-site. It is situated right on the Little Beaver Creek (and) in front of the Sandy and Beaver Canal lock and dam for which it was originally named. This barn was built in 1830.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Defining Ohio’s shortest covered bridge can be quite a stretch