National Register of Historic Places in Mariposa County

National Register #06001261: Wawona Covered Bridge
29 October 2012
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National Register #06001261
Wawona Covered Bridge
Pioneer Yosemite Historic Center
Wawona
Yosemite National Park
Built 1868

The Wawona Covered Bridge spans the South Fork of the Merced River at the Pioneer Yosemite History Center in Wawona, Yosemite National Park. It was constructed by Galen Clark, original guardian of the Yosemite Grant, in 1868 to service local horse, stock and pedestrian traffic, as well as the trail to Yosemite Valley.

The structure is a modified Queen-post truss constructed with native woods braced by steel tie rods. The overall length of the structure is 130 feet, 4 inches. The overall width is 16 feet, 6 inches. A pair of longitudinal stringers spans between the trusses. The trusses and stringers are supported by a system of seven transverse floor beams, or outriggers.
The covering structure, added in 1878, a decade after construction of the original bridge, has an internal frame with timber siding. The total height of the bridge is thirty feet, measured from the peak of the gable-roofed covering structure to the top of the transverse floor beams. The principal truss members are made of hand-hewn Ponderosa Pine; the vertical and diagonal elements of the truss are made of plain-sawn Douglas fir.

The property was meticulously rehabilitated in 1956, reusing all salvageable materials and replacing deteriorated materials in-kind, regarding species, dimension, and hand-hewn method of preparation. The bridge remains at its original location in the Wawona region.

Adapted from the NRHP nomination.

Historic Covered Bridges in California

Bridgeport
California Powder Works Bridge
Felton
Glen Canyon
Honey Run

Knights Ferry
Oregon Creek
Wawona
Zane's Ranch

Historic Covered Bridges in Oregon

Antelope Creek
Grave Creek Horse Creek
Little Butte Creek
Lost Creek

McKee
Sandy Creek
Wimer

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