Beecher Creek Falls & The Copeland Covered Bridge

Arad Copeland, 1805-1884 came with his family from Guilford, Vermont to the Sacandaga Valley in 1815, first settling in the Town of Day. In 1828 Arad and his brother Leonard moved to the Town of Edinburgh, purchasing Ely Beecher's sawmill and carriage factory located along Beecher Creek. Arad married Elizabeth Trowbridge, daughter of Edinburgh resident Willard Towbridge. The Trowbridges operated a brick kiln behind their home on what is now Sinclair Road. As a wedding gift, Willard donated the bricks for a house, and Arad built the home for his bride (c. 1832). The house still stands today across the road from the covered bridge. Arad had 35 acres across Beecher Creek where he had a garden and pasture land. An open bridge below the house gave access to this acreage until it was destroyed by melting spring snows and ice. Arad then decided to build the covered bridge that still stands today. According to family legend, local residents, Melzor Manning laid the stones, Jacob Latcher hewed the timbers and Aariah Ellithorpe Jr. framed the building. The bridge is 35 feet long and is New York State's only historic Queenpost Truss Bridge. A popular tourist attraction, the bridge has played host to a few wedding ceremonies. The only covered bridge left in Saratoga County, it has always been used for animal and pedestrian traffic. The bridge was built c. 1879