Copeland Bridge
COVERED BRIDGE:
Built by Arad Copeland below Beecher Falls in 1879. Only NYS Queenpost Truss bridge. Placed on NYS and National register in 1998.
Location: North Shore Road, Edinburg
GPS: 43° 13.258′ N, 74° 6.021′ W.
Arad Copeland (1805-1884) came with his family from Guilford, Vermont to the Sacandaga Valley in 1815, first settling in the Town of Day. In 1828 Arad and his brother Leonard moved to the Town of Edinburgh, purchasing Ely Beecher’s sawmill and carriage factory located along Beecher Creek.
Arad married Anna Elizabeth Trowbridge, daughter of Edinburgh resident Willard Trowbridge. The Trowbridges’ operated a brick kiln behind their home on what is now Sinclaire road. As a wedding gift Willard donated the bricks for a house and Arad built the home for his bride c.1832. The house still stands today across the road from the covered bridge.
Arad had 35 acres across Beecher Creek where he had garden and pasture land. An open bridge below the house gave access to this acreage until it was destroyed by melting spring snow and ice. In 1879 he then decided to build the covered bridge that still stands today. According to family legend local residents Melzor Manning laid the stones, Jacob Latcher hewed the timbers and Azariah Ellithorpe Jr. framed the bridge.
Over the years the bridge received a new metal roof, new flooring and some side boards were replaced. The bridge is 35 feet long and is New York State’s only queenpost truss. A popular tourist attraction the bridge has been photographed from all angles, painted by visiting artists and even played host to a few wedding ceremonies. The only covered bridge left in Saratoga county it has always been used for animal and pedestrian traffic.
Arad had 35 acres across Beecher Creek where he had garden and pasture land. An open bridge below the house gave access to this acreage until it was destroyed by melting spring snow and ice. In 1879 he then decided to build the covered bridge that still stands today. According to family legend local residents Melzor Manning laid the stones, Jacob Latcher hewed the timbers and Azariah Ellithorpe Jr. framed the bridge.
