Foraker Covered Bridge Photo Gallery by Gregory S. Hamilton at pbase.com

Foraker Covered Bridge

Foraker / Weddle Covered Bridge
On Plainview Rd. (CR40) southeast of Graysville
Monroe County, Ohio
Truss Type - Multiple Kingpost
35-56-14
92 feet long Built in 1886
Restored in 2005

Please Visit the below link to view Updated/New photos
http://www.emaginedit.photos/p3295127

2008-Foraker-16	2008 Foraker-17	2008 Foraker-22	028-Foraker-34.JPG
2004-Foraker	2004-Foraker-01	2004-Foraker-02	2004-Foraker-03

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Steve Foreaker		20-Jan-2017 05:11
My name is Steve Foreaker, I'd have to double check, but I believe Joseph Foreaker was my great great great uncle. He was both Governor and Senator of Ohio, and Mt. Foreaker in Alaska is named after him. My understanding is that he was heading towards the Presidency when he got in a public feud with Teddy Roosevelt, who disgraced him and that was the end of his political career. He was apparently ahead of his time and supported Negros and Women. I never heard of the bridge from my Grandfather, and think it's more likely it was named after the Forakers that lived on that property. Yet, Foraker/Foreaker is such a unique name that we're probably all related. Per the person back in 2007 who was investigating Joseph Foreaker and the Brownsville incident, my family has what I believe is an autobiography of Joseph Foreaker. I haven't read it. In a nut shell, that's what I know. Hopefully one of these days I'll make it back to Ohio to see the bridge. I can be reached at sforeaker@comcast.net.

Mollie Kindall		10-Apr-2011 00:42
The Foraker covered bridge was built in 1888 by William Foraker, my husband's great-grandfather on his mother's side. The Forakers had a farm on the north side of the bridge, and the hill leading from the farm to the bridge was known as Foraker hill. I remember crossing the bridge as a child in the 1950s, and it was known then simply as the Foraker bridge. The Weddle family lived on the south side of the bridge. Ethel Foraker Sloan, a prominent descendant of William Foraker, supplied the Foraker history of this historic covered bridge.

Betty Weddle		18-Jan-2010 20:20
I am a Weddle, also and I have been researching the land this bridge is built on. I think it is the land my gr-gr-grandfather John Weddle purchased when he moved to Monroe County in 1842. It was called the Weddle-Foraker bridge when it was put on the National Registery of Historical Places in 1975. I think Jane Weddle, wife of William Weddle might have been living on the property at the time the bridge was built. The Foraker might have been from George Foraker who lived on the property or Densel Foraker that was married to Jane Weddle's granddaughter.

Leslie Clark Long		13-Jul-2009 23:36
The Foreaker Covered Bridge in this location I am sure was named after one of my relatives. I realize there was a former governor of the Foraker name. My Grandfather's name was Sherman Foreaker. Previously spelled Foraker in family documents, from this Monroe County of Ohio. His wife Grace Darling Young, a decendant of John Young who emigrated from London in 1756. I have been told since I was a child of the family Foreaker Covered Bridge in Ohio and that it was in the National Register. I am sure I have many relatives in the area. These findings were recorded by Catherine Foreaker Fedorchak who kept extensive records of the family. Happy to correspond with anyone interested. Leslie Clark Long, (son of Mary Phyllis Foreaker Long,) Address -2009- 1012 Ellison Park Circle, Denton, Texas 76205 ....The Bridge Looks Great. I would like to know who restored it.

gforaker		04-Mar-2009 21:34
My Grandfather Foraker grew up very near to the bridge. I don't believe it is named after Governor Foraker, but he was a cousin or something of the family - not particularly close, yet related. There were a number of Forakers living in the area then. Joseph Foraker from Highland county was elected Governor in 1886, so it is possible he had something to do with the bridge name. Perhaps a combination of both, but I recall the family saying it was named for the local Forakers. There were hundreds of small bridges like this back then, so it would not have been a great honor. My Grandfather was always something of a speed demon, whether horse or car. When growing up he would ride his horse across the bridge at full gallop and his parents only heard the hooves hit 3 times. They would yell at him to little effect. I am happy to hear it was restored, I have not seen it in years. Gene Foraker

Guest		12-Oct-2008 21:02
Interesting documentary pictures especially of the restoration.

Toni Weddle Weaver		04-Jan-2008 03:24
thank you for having some wonderful pictures. I am a weddle and we grow up on the bridge playing in it. We were always told not to go near the bridge, but everyone did. They redid it in 2005 and it is not the same, I wish they would have kept alot of the old feeling of the bridge.

Harry Lembeck		19-Jan-2007 16:01
How did the bridge get its name? I am researching a book to be about Sen. Joseph B. Foraker and the Brownsville Incident and would like to know if it was named after him. Thank you. Harry Lembedck

Steven Brode		16-Dec-2005 20:31
Mr. Hamilton If you get an oppertunity, please return and shoot this bridge again. My company, The W.M. Brode Company, just completed restoring this bridge(11/2005). Interesting enough the company was founded the same year Foraker was built, 1887. I appreciate your photos of the other covered bridges. One of my first projects for the company was the restoration of the Helmick covered bridge. I just wish we could have stained the siding. Thanks again for your photographs. Steven

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