Root Covered Bridge, in southeastern Ohio’s Decatur Township, was built in 1878 to carry a road over the West Branch of the Little Hocking River in a single 65-foot span. Constructed by Charles and Alta Merydith, it uses the Long truss, a design now uncommon in Ohio, and reflects the Merydith family’s strong ties to covered-bridge building in Washington County. Named for the vanished community of Root Town, the bridge rests on stone abutments and combines weatherboarded walls with a metal roof and iron and steel elements. In 1975 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places as a well-preserved engineering landmark and one of only eight surviving Long truss bridges in Ohio.