Buskirk Bridge

	Buskirk Covered Bridge
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Buskirk Bridge from the Rensselaer County side of the Hoosic River
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Nearest city	Buskirk, New York
Coordinates	42°57′30″N 73°26′0″W / 42.95833°N 73.43333°WCoordinates: 42°57′30″N 73°26′0″W / 42.95833°N 73.43333°W
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1850
Architectural style	Howe truss
MPS	Covered Bridges of Washington County TR / Buskirk, Rexleigh, Eagleville, and Shushan Covered Bridges
NRHP reference No.	78003457
Added to NRHP	March 08, 1978

Buskirk Bridge is a wooden covered bridge and is the name of the hamlet in which it is located. It is in the town of Hoosick. The bridge, which crosses the Hoosic River is one of 29 historic covered bridges in New York State. The bridge takes its name from the nearby hamlet of the same name, which was named after the local Van Buskirk family.^[3]

Town and Howe truss designs were patented by Ithiel Town in 1820 and William Howe in 1840, respectively.^[2] The Buskirk Bridge a Howe truss design, and was built to replace a previous Burr arch truss. It is perhaps the earliest Howe truss bridge that survives in New York State.^[4]

A topographic map of its location appears in its individual inventory document prepared by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 1977.^[5]

It is one of four Washington County covered bridges submitted for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in a multiple property submission.^[2] The others are the Rexleigh Bridge, the Eagleville Bridge, and Shushan Bridge. All four were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 1972.^[1]

The bridge continues in use for vehicles, and is maintained jointly by Washington County and Rensselaer County. It’s also an obstruction for fire trucks attempting to cross onto the Washington County side of the bridge. This results in an unnecessary danger to residences on that side of the river. As far as historical value, there’s little, if any, original parts of the structure. What’s there is a make believe representation of a historical structure.^[2]

References[]

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Raymond W. Smith (December 1977). "Covered Bridges of Washington County TR / Buskirk, Rexleigh, Eagleville, and Shushan Covered Bridges". National Park Service. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
^ University of the State of New York Bulletin. University of the State of New York. 1914. p. 51.
^ The MPS document at one point seems to contradict itself, saying the "Town truss type is represented...by the bridges at Buskirk and at Rexleigh" and also it "is the earliest Howe truss bridge surviving in New York State" (page 3), but elsewhere it is clear that the Buskirk and Rexleigh bridges are both of the Howe truss design.
^ Smith, R.W. (October 1977). "Building/Structure Inventory: Rexleigh Covered Bridge". Division of Historic Preservation, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2008-02-08.

External links[]

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

[mpsw-2] Raymond W. Smith (December 1977). "Covered Bridges of Washington County TR / Buskirk, Rexleigh, Eagleville, and Shushan Covered Bridges". National Park Service. Retrieved 2010-06-12.

[3] University of the State of New York Bulletin. University of the State of New York. 1914. p. 51.

[4] The MPS document at one point seems to contradict itself, saying the "Town truss type is represented...by the bridges at Buskirk and at Rexleigh" and also it "is the earliest Howe truss bridge surviving in New York State" (page 3), but elsewhere it is clear that the Buskirk and Rexleigh bridges are both of the Howe truss design.

[nrhptext-5] Smith, R.W. (October 1977). "Building/Structure Inventory: Rexleigh Covered Bridge". Division of Historic Preservation, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2008-02-08.

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