NEWPORT, Va. (WFXR) – Tucked into the rolling hills of western Virginia, the old covered bridge in the village of Newport has stood through world wars, floods and the steady march of time.
Known as the Clover Hollow Bridge — the structure has stood quietly since 1916, when craftsmen raised its timber frame above the cold Sinking Creek water in rural Virginia. Built with a modified Howe truss design, the 70-foot bridge once carried wagons, horses and the earliest automobiles into the Clover Hollow community north of Newport.
At the time, covered bridges were already disappearing from Virginia’s landscape. Steel and concrete had begun replacing timber crossings across the state, leaving wooden bridges vulnerable to floods, fire and modernization. Today, only a handful remain standing in Virginia, making the Newport bridge one of the Commonwealth’s rare survivors…