Kirker Covered Bridge
SW of West Union off SR 136, West Union, OHThe Kirker Covered Bridge takes its name from Governor Thomas Kirker who served as governor of Ohio from 1807-1808. Governor Kirker was a native of Ireland who came to this country in 1779. He came to this area that later became Liberty Township, Adams County, in 1794 and is considered to have been the first permanent settler in the area. The Kirker Home is a short distance south of the covered bridge and has been nominated separately to the National Register of Historic Places. Also south of the covered bridge is the Kirker Cemetery where the former governor is buried. The Kirker Bridge is one of only two such spans left in Adams County and has been recently retired from the state highway system. A new bridge was built Just to the west of the old covered structure to carry SR 136 over the east fork of Eagle Creek and the old bridge has been closed to all but pedestrian traffic. It will be maintained as a historic site by Adams County. The exact building date of the Kirker Covered Bridge is unknown, but one source says it was the late 1860s. The bridge became a part of the state highway system in the 1930s and has now reverted back to county ownership. This old roofed span has served this area well for over a century at least and is indeed an important part of the historic significance of this region.
Local significance of the structure:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.