The Lost Sherburne Covered Bridge, Sherburne, Kentucky

The Sherburne Covered Bridge was built in 1868 at a cost of $3,500.00. It connected the town of Sherburne, Kentucky in Fleming County with Bath County, Kentucky by spanning the Licking River. The bridge was 253 feet long and built by Isaac Kisker.

Now for the really unusual points of the bridge.

First, originally it was a privately owned toll bridge with the toll keepers house on the Fleming County side of the river. This house was demolished around 1920.

Second, suspension tiers and cables were added by the Kentucky Highway Department in 1951 to help strengthen the bridge. It is reported that this is the only covered bridge to ever use suspension cables in this manner.

Third, it was closed in 1977 when the road was realigned and a new highway, Route 11, was opened just 300 yards downstream. On April 6th, 1981 the bridge burned when two teenage boys started a fire inside the bridge to keep warm. Obviously that wasn’t a good idea and the fire ended up destroying the bridge.

Fourth, at the time of the fire, it was the longest covered bridge still standing in the state of Kentucky.

Over the years Kentucky has been home to over 700 covered bridges. Unfortunately only 11 covered bridges still stand in the state of Kentucky.

GPS Location: 38º16’49.5″N 83º48’13.1″W