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PARTIAL COPY OF ACTUAL APPLICATION FOR NEWFIELD BRIDGE United States Department of the Interior National Parks Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 1 ________________________________________________________________________ Newfield Covered Bridge Tompkins County, NY Description Following Ray Smith's Guidelines for Completing Section 7, and the National Register Bulletin instructions (Section 7, pages 24-34)) write a Description of the Newfield Covered Bridge and insert it here. Use as many pages as necessary remembering to insert the Section number and Page number at the top of each page. Once your Description has been written and inserted, the rest of Section 7 should be completed following Ray's guidelines. Incorporate any or all areas from the guidelines that may be appropriate for the Newfield Covered Bridge. United States Department of the Interior National Parks Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 2 ________________________________________________________________________ Newfield Covered Bridge Tompkins County, NY Description (continued) United States Department of the Interior National Parks Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 3 ________________________________________________________________________ Newfield Covered Bridge Tompkins County, NY Description (continued) United States Department of the Interior National Parks Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 1 ________________________________________________________________________ Newfield Covered Bridge Tompkins County, NY Statement of Significance Following Ray Smith's guidelines, and the National Register Bulletin instructions (Section 8, pages 35-51) write a Statement of Significance on the Newfield Covered Bridge and insert it here. Use as many pages as necessary remembering to insert the Section number and Page number at the top of each page. Once your Statement of Significance has been written and inserted, the rest of Section 8 should be the Context for Evaluation that follows. Context for Evaluation: Covered wood truss bridges of New York State are significant under Criteria A and C. Under Criterion A, these structures reflect the history and development of settlement patterns, communities and land-based transportation in New York. The history of covered timber bridge construction in New York State spans the period from the first decade of the nineteenth century to the era of the First World War. Under Criterion C, covered bridges are a distinctive property type reflecting vernacular engineering design and construction practice during the period of significance. Throughout much of the nineteenth century, New York was predominantly rural; its settlement pattern generally consisted of widely separated communities whose economy was based upon subsistence agriculture and local water-powered industry. Few improved roads connected population centers. As the Empire State grew and its economy expanded, however, road and bridge improvements became essential for linking emerging centers of civic market activity. The earliest permanent bridges in New York were constructed using readily available local materials and skills. Because the cost of constructing bridges generally was the responsibility of local governments, they turned to readily available materials and skills for this purpose. The abundant timber and stone resources found throughout much of New York State made these materials the logical choice for bridge construction during the period of significance. Relative ease of construction was another factor that mitigated in favor of wooden bridge construction. The timber framing skills of local millwrights and joiners were readily adaptable to the construction of timber bridges. United States Department of the Interior National Parks Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet |