Area photographer captures all of Pennsylvania’s covered bridges
Courtesy of Heidi Mertz
After visiting and photographing all the covered bridges in a county, Heidi Mertz colors in that county. There are 67 counties in Pennsylvania, and 34 of them are home to covered bridges.
Courtesy of Heidi Mertz
Heidi Mertz snaps a selfie in front of the New Germantown covered bridge in Perry County, Pennsylvania. Mertz recently finished photographing all the covered bridges in the state.
Courtesy of Heidi Mertz
During her two-year quest to photograph all the covered bridges in Pennsylvania, Heidi Mertz found and documented this wooden trestle in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.
Courtesy of Heidi Mertz
A fisherman waits for the fish to bite while enjoying the roar of water beneath the Packsaddle Covered Bridge in Somerset County. Heidi Mertz recently finished photographing every covered bridge in the state, and said Packsaddle – which is 48 feet long and open to vehicular traffic, and the only covered bridge over a natural waterfall in the state – is her favorite.
Courtesy of Heidi Mertz
A bird swoops over the Shriver Bridge, one of seven covered bridges in Greene County. Heidi Mertz recently finished photographing every covered bridge in the state.
Courtesy of Heidi Mertz
Heidi Mertz’s favorite Washington County covered bridge photo is this one, of the Crawford Bridge, snapped in 2020. Mertz’s photo project began during lockdown, and she recently photographed the last of Pennsylvania’s covered bridges.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of and number of bridges at Knoebels Amusement Resort.
On Aug. 23, 2022, Heidi Mertz snapped her last photograph of a Pennsylvania covered bridge.
For two years, the Bethel Park woman spent her vacations and PTO traveling to and taking photos of every covered bridge in the commonwealth.
All but one.
“One I went to – it was Chester County, actually last year, right around the hot air balloon festival. Hurricane Ida came and wiped out one of the covered bridges a week before I got there,” Mertz said. “They had a ‘road closed ahead’ sign. Of course, I drove down to see it and took a picture of where the bridge used to be.”
That tenacity, coupled with curiosity and an adventurous spirit, helped Mertz do something many have not. The banker by day, photographer by night, has traversed the state and captured on film (er, smartphone) 213 covered bridges – more than the number of bridges listed at pacoveredbridges.com, which Mertz used to plan her project.
The covered bridge photography project began on Mother’s Day 2020. Pennsylvania was two months into lockdown, and though Mertz still went to work each day, she had hit her quota of binge-watching and felt restless.
“I’m not a homebody,” said Mertz. “I like to go out and do things. You have to be creative and inventive during this whole thing. You can either let the pandemic make you crazy, depressed, or figure creative ways to work around it.”
One of Mertz’s good friends knew the bubbly blonde needed adventure and, thanks to a Facebook recommendation, suggested the duo day trip to Washington County.
“You always hear about Washington County and Greene County, because they have that covered bridge festival. I’ve always wanted to go, just never did. One of my friends … she’s like, why don’t we go check out covered bridges? Start with Washington County, because they’re local,” Mertz said. “During the pandemic they’re telling you to stay home, stay home. It’s not safe outside. Well, if everyone’s inside, no one’s outside.”
So on May 10, 2020, Mertz and her friend stepped outside. They visited 14 of Washington County’s 23 covered bridges. Mertz never planned on a daylong excursion becoming a two-year photography project. She just did what she always does: document the moment on her iPhone.
“I love taking pictures,” Mertz shrugged. “It’s kind of habit for me.”
After photographing all the bridges in Washington and Greene counties, Mertz began planning her real-life scavenger hunt to the rest of the state’s historic trestles.
The project took Mertz to all sorts of quirky places, including Punxsutawney, where she successfully tracked down all the fiberglass Phils, and a secret Liberty Bell.
“I explored and learned more about Pennsylvania. I got to see two Liberty Bells,” she said. “There’s one that’s hidden underneath a church. It’s a replica. Apparently they had to hide the Liberty Bell for a period of time, and they hid it under this church, Zion Lutheran Church.”
Through two red doors on the lower level of that church in Allentown is the Liberty Bell Museum, where Mertz rang the replica bell before visiting the real one in Philadelphia.
“It’s funny: The (museum) opened in 1962, so they tell you all these facts about 1962,” Mertz laughed.
She also played a large role in connecting long-lost friends.
“There was a covered bridge in Northampton County that had my last name. I’m like, OK, I’m looking forward to driving there and checking it out,” Mertz said.
When she arrived at the bridge, Mertz parked on the side of the road. Her car blocked a nearby driveway, but because the area was quiet, the photographer hopped out, headed to the bridge and started snapping.
“I heard a car coming down the hillside, going across the bridge and I’m like running to my car to see if I have to move it,” Mertz said.
She waved at the slowly approaching vehicle and explained her pandemic project to the driver. Since the bridge didn’t have a plaque, Mertz asked if the driver could verify its name. He confirmed it was, indeed, the Mertz Covered Bridge.
“I said, I share a last name with the bridge. (The driver) goes, if you don’t mind me asking, do you know Patty Mertz? I’m like, that’s my aunt, my godmother,” Mertz said. “He goes on to tell me that he was a pharmacist, went to the University of Pittsburgh with my aunt and they had another friend. They were like the three amigos.”
The gentleman, named Steve Mertz (no relation), asked for Patty Mertz’s number, but Mertz felt uncomfortable giving out that information, so she called her aunt from the side of the road.
“Luckily, she answered,” Mertz laughed. “They talked for about 10 minutes. When I left there, my aunt called me back and she’s like, how did you run into Steve Mertz?”
Mertz explained she was out photographing a covered bridge, and the timing happened to be perfect.
She told Patty to pick a day and, two months after Mertz met Steve Mertz at the covered bridge, the photog and her aunt arrived at Knoebels Amusement Park (which, of course, houses three overpasses).
“They reconnected after 46 years,” Mertz said. “I mean, what are the chances of that even happening? I was there at the right moment. They keep in touch now.”
Mertz’s covered bridge project is filled with moments suited for the silver screen, but it wasn’t without challenges, which began on day one.
The bumps in the road began, literally, during that first trip to Washington County.
“A lot of the roads are back roads, dirt roads, very bumpy. Well, I heard a bump. I ended up putting a hole in my muffler,” Mertz laughed. “They have like four different sections (on https://www.visitwashingtoncountypa.com/covered-bridge-festival/) … and there’s a warning about the roads. Enter at your own risk, or something. I forget exactly what it said, but I was laughing.”
Of course, Mertz didn’t read that warning until after the muffler fiasco, but she took the challenge in stride. She also learned to navigate rural areas sans cellphone service, and went to great lengths to capture some of the state’s more obscure covered bridges.
“There are a couple that are privately owned, that you have to get permission. I reached out for permission, knocked on front doors or emailed them,” Mertz said.
During a trip to Lancaster County for the annual hot air balloon festival, Mertz decided to visit as many nearby covered bridges as she could.
“Chester County’s not too far away, so I’m like, let’s see how many in Chester County I can hit while I’m here,” Mertz said. “Two of them, I couldn’t find them anywhere. Then I read on that website they’re owned by the Laurel Preserves, and that it’s a membership-only access. You have to get either a membership or permission to access their property. I’m sitting there doing searches on the internet trying to find a contact. They ended up giving me a complimentary day pass.”
And so Mertz documented those membership-only bridges.
She also booked a stay at the Liberty Spring House, a wedding venue home to a covered bridge accessible only to guests. Mertz spent a Sunday evening touring the grounds, photographing the covered bridge and sipping wine on the cabin’s dock overlooking a lake.
“It’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s so tranquil,” she said.
Mertz photographed the last covered bridge on her list during a 10-day trip this August, where she stopped at 24 bridges in five counties.
“I’m like, the last one better be pretty nice. I didn’t want to be disappointed, it falling apart,” she said with a smile.
“I thought I’d feel like, oh. Accomplishment, you know? I’m done,” she sighed. “I’m like, OK, that’s it. Now what’s to do next?”
Next, Mertz plans to visit all the waterfalls in Pennsylvania, a project she began while photographing the state’s covered bridges. She also started snapping murals and red barns during covered bridge trips, and since she’s seen so much of the commonwealth, Mertz plans to take pictures outside of Pennsylvania. Already, she’s begun visiting America’s ballparks (when the Pirates play in that city, of course), and is smitten with the idea of capturing Maine’s lighthouses on her camera.
As for her covered bridge photographs?
Mertz said friends, family and social media followers liked and shared and commented on the covered bridge images she’s posted to Facebook (the images helped a co-worker find wedding venues, too!), and several people have suggested the self-taught photographer turn her journey into a book.
“There’s a ton of books of our covered bridges out there already. How many can you have out there?” Mertz said. “I’ve done Shutterfly books. So I might do that, like a coffee table book.”
For herself, of course. The project, born out of a global pandemic, was never for fame or fortune.
“I wasn’t expecting anything. Just something to do during the pandemic, get out of the house,” Mertz said.
The Washington and Greene Counties Covered Bridge Festival is Sept. 17 and 18. Events are featured at 10 of the area’s covered bridges. For more information on the festival, visit https://www.visitwashingtoncountypa.com/covered-bridge-festival/.