Barrackville Covered Bridge

Marion County , West Virginia

Built in 1852/1853 by Lemuel and Eli Chenoweth. It was built in the same year that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached Barrackville. The contract was let by the commonwealth of Virginia before West Virginia became a State. It was probably the first covered bridge in Marion County.

Lemuel Chenoweth was associated in the building of this and many other covered bridges in West Virginia, between 1851 and his death in 1884. Lemuel was a cabinet maker by trade. Lemuel arrived in Richmond, Va., 1850 with a model of his bridge packed in his saddle bags.

Before the Board of Public Works which was then considering bids for the constructions of bridges, Chenoweth assembled his model "made of poplar and nary a nail in 'er". He suspended the frail looking toy between two chairs, stood upon it, and challanged his competitors to put their models to the same test!

The construction of stone work was let to Squire James E. Conaway and the masons were the fore-fathers of many prominent Barrackville citizens.

The only hostile army ever in Marion County crossed this bridge on the morning of April 29, 1863. General Jones at first planned destruction of the bridge but decided to spare it. Although two B&O bridges in the area were destroyed by "Jones Raiders".