WINDSOR TOWNSHIP — Tucked in along Phelps Creek, the Wiswell Road Covered Bridge is a reminder of a time when a bridge could be both a piece of transportation infrastructure and a gathering place for a rural community.
Built in 1867, the 120-foot bridge is one of Ashtabula County’s historic covered bridges and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It also is known by the names Windsor Mills Covered Bridge and Warner Hollow Bridge.
The bridge carries Covered Bridge Lane, formerly Wiswell Road, across Phelps Creek in Windsor Township, about five miles west of Orwell.
This year was supposed to mark the installation of a century plaque dedicating the bridge and commemorating its long history in the community, according to Charlie Kohli, a member of the Covered Bridge Festival Committee.
However, those honors have been pushed to next year after the committee opted to instead dedicate the Creek Road Covered Bridge in Conneaut for Robert “Bob” Marcy.
Kohli said the committee also had trouble securing the plaques in time for the festival and with everything being “in flux,” it was decided to move the commemoration until 2027.
“It’s all in the works,” he said.
The structure is a Town lattice truss bridge, constructed mostly of white pine. Its stone supports include locally quarried sandstone as well as creek stone. The bridge stands more than 30 feet above Phelps Creek in a wooded portion of the former Windsor Mills community.
Windsor Mills developed around the waterpower available at Phelps Creek. A mill was built and a community sprang up in the area. The bridge provided a way to cross the creek and linked the community with Stoneville, where quarrying took place.
As transportation patterns changed, the bridge’s role diminished.
Wiswell Road eventually was rerouted west of Phelps Creek, and the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in 1971. By the 1980s, it had been closed entirely because of safety concerns.
The bridge’s historic significance had already been recognized. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1973.
A major rehabilitation project began in 2002 and was completed in 2004 at a cost of approximately $250,000. Ashtabula County employees performed much of the work. Modern glue-laminated girders were incorporated into the historic structure to provide the strength necessary to support vehicle traffic while preserving the bridge’s historic appearance.
The bridge reopened to traffic in 2004, though heavy trucks and buses are prohibited.
Today, the bridge remains a connection to Windsor Mills’ past. The setting has made it a destination for photographers, history enthusiasts and visitors exploring Ashtabula County’s collection of covered bridges.
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