Lemuel Chenoweth
Encyclopedia
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
, legislator
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and self-educated architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
. He is best-known as one of nineteenth century America's master covered bridge
Covered bridge
A covered bridge is a bridge with enclosed sides and a roof, often accommodating only a single lane of traffic. Most covered bridges are wooden; some newer ones are concrete or metal with glass sides...
builders.
Chenoweth and his brother Eli constructed 20 bridges, most of them covered, on four western Virginia turnpikes, notably on the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike system of western Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
(now West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
).
Biography
Chenoweth was born, lived and died in Randolph County, West VirginiaRandolph County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 28,262 people, 11,072 households, and 7,661 families residing in the county. The population density was 27 people per square mile . There were 13,478 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
. He was an associate of Claudius Crozet
Claudius Crozet
Benoit Claudius Crozet was an educator and civil engineer.Crozet was born in France. After serving in the French military, in 1816, he immigrated to the United States. He taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and helped found the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington,...
, a noted civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
who oversaw the design and construction of Virginia's transportation infrastructure of turnpikes, canals, and roads with funding by the Virginia Board of Public Works
Virginia Board of Public Works
The Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's internal transportation improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was customary to invest public funds in private companies, which were the forerunners of the...
and the General Assembly of Virginia during the 19th century prior to the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
One of Chenoweth's best known surviving bridges is the Philippi Covered Bridge
Philippi Covered Bridge
The Philippi Covered Bridge, on the Tygart River, is the main local landmark and historical icon of Philippi, West Virginia, USA.The celebrated bridge was commissioned by the General Assembly of Virginia and constructed in 1852 by Lemuel Chenoweth, a well-known Appalachian bridge builder, to...
spanning the Tygart Valley River
Tygart Valley River
The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately long, in east-central West Virginia, USA...
and carrying U.S. Route 250
U.S. Route 250
U.S. Route 250 is a route of the United States Numbered Highway System, and is a spur of U.S. Route 50. It currently runs for from Sandusky, Ohio to Richmond, Virginia. It passes through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. It goes through the cities of Richmond, Virginia,...
in Philippi
Philippi, West Virginia
Philippi is a city in — and the county seat of — Barbour County, West Virginia, USA. The population was 2,870 at the 2000 census. In 1861, the city was the site of the Battle of Philippi, known as "The Philippi Races"...
. The bridge is an outstanding example of a modified Burr truss
Burr Truss
The Burr Arch Truss — or simply Burr Truss or Burr Arch — is a combination of an arch and a multiple kingpost truss design. It was invented in 1804 by Theodore Burr, patented on April 3, 1817, and used in bridges, usually covered bridges....
bridge with two spans totaling 308 feet (93.9 m). It is also the only covered bridge in the United States currently incorporated into the national primary highway system.
Another of Chenoweth's surviving covered bridges is located at Barrackville
Barrackville, West Virginia
Barrackville is a town in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2000 census. Barrackville was founded in 1767 by William "Indian Billy" Ice and named in honor of an early settler, John Barrack...
in Marion County
Marion County, West Virginia
| style="float:right;"|As of the census of 2000, there were 56,598 people, 23,652 households, and 15,515 families residing in the county. The population density was 183 people per square mile . There were 26,660 housing units at an average density of 86 per square mile...
.
Several homes and the Huttonsville Presbyterian Church in Huttonsville
Huttonsville, West Virginia
Huttonsville is a town in Randolph County, West Virginia, United States, along the Tygart Valley River. The population was 217 at the 2000 census.-History:...
are also among Chenoweth's extant creations.
Chenoweth was buried in the Beverly Cemetery.
Chenoweth
Chenoweth
Chenoweth is a name of Cornish origin meaning "new house" in the Cornish language, and usually pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable.-Variant spellings:...
is a Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
name.
Legacy
The Lemuel Chenoweth House Museum operates in the post and beam house that Chenoweth built for himself in BeverlyBeverly, West Virginia
Beverly is a small town in Randolph County, West Virginia, USA. It is situated along the Tygart Valley River and had a population of 651 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Beverly is located at ....
in 1856.
List of Chenoweth bridges
- Beverly Covered Bridge, 1847, Chenoweth's first bridge (destroyed).
- Middle Fork Covered Bridge, 18?? (destroyed).
- Buckhannon Covered Bridge, 18?? (destroyed).
- Weston Covered Bridge, 18??, across Stone Coal Creek, (destroyed).
- Philippi Covered BridgePhilippi Covered BridgeThe Philippi Covered Bridge, on the Tygart River, is the main local landmark and historical icon of Philippi, West Virginia, USA.The celebrated bridge was commissioned by the General Assembly of Virginia and constructed in 1852 by Lemuel Chenoweth, a well-known Appalachian bridge builder, to...
, 1852 (surviving). - Barrackville Covered BridgeBarrackville Covered BridgeThe Barrackville Covered Bridge spans in a single span across Buffalo Creek near Barrackville, West Virginia. Built by in 1853 by local bridge builder Lemuel Chenoweth, the structure is a modified arched Burr truss, with siding added twenty years after the bridge's construction.It was listed on...
, 1858 (surviving).