Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge
bridge in Pennsylvania, United States
The Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge or Butcher's Mill Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that spans Cocalico Creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. After the Landis Mill Covered Bridge, it is the second shortest covered bridge in the county. A county-owned and maintained bridge, its official designation is the Cocalico #2 Bridge.
The bridge has a single span, wooden, double Burr arch trusses design with the addition of steel hanger rods. The deck is made from oak planks. It is painted red, the traditional color of Lancaster County covered bridges, on both the inside and outside. Both approaches to the bridge are painted in the traditional white color.
The bridge's WGCB Number is 38-36-12. In 1980 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as structure number 80003514. It is located at 40°12′28.2″N 76°8′4.8″W (40.20783, -76.134667) to the northeast of Ephrata, Pennsylvania off Pennsylvania Route 272 on Cocalico Creek Road.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge” is bridge in Pennsylvania, United States. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bucher's, Mill and Covered, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “bridge in Pennsylvania, United States” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4982687. Authority coordinates are 40.208, -76.135. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1980.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge primary sources, Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge archive and Bucher's research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Bucher's Mill Covered Bridge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.