Stand in the Sugar Valley hamlet of Logan Mills long enough, and you might glimpse a vision from the past.
Amish buggies sometimes pass through the red covered bridge spanning Big Fishing Creek, providing a real-life calendar scene. It’s one of about 200 historic covered bridges in Pennsylvania, tops among states, and the only one in Clinton County.
It’s also the closest example of its kind to State College, about a 30- mile drive just across the county line to see a beautiful rarity. Centre County lacks any of the 900 or so authentic bridges left in the country, down from the nearly 14,000 nationwide more than a century ago.
Built in 1874, the Logan Mills Covered Bridge carries traffic on state Route 2007 over one of the area’s prime trout streams. The 64- foot Queen Truss bridge, owned and maintained by the state, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Seven years ago, workers finished a full restoration of the bridge. During the project, the bridge rested in a nearby field for a spell.
Nearby stands another refurbished structure, a former general store that once served the little mill village.Married architects Glenn Vernon and Claudia Albertin restored the decrepit building and now use it as the office for their business, Albertin Vernon Architecture.
As a bonus to any visit, a knock on the front door might yield some history about the bridge, or the vacant 1840 grist mill next door that the couple would like to restore someday. It’s on a 52-acre plot that includes the couple’s home and a farmhouse they converted into a guest cottage for fly fishing vacations.
To get to the bridge from Centre Hall, take state Route 192 to Rebersburg, then turn left onto state Route 880 and take the winding road over the mountain. Once in Sugar Valley, turn right at Tylersville and proceed for about two miles until the turn for Logan Mills on the right.
