They were a transition between stone and metal bridges, with the roof and sides protecting the wooden structure from the weather.

The Hillsgrove bridge has load-bearing Burr arches sandwiching multiple vertical king posts on each side, for strength and rigidity.

It was built by Sadler Rodgers, who also constructed the nearby Forksville Covered Bridge in the same year, with a similar design.

Nineteenth-century regulations restricting speed, number of animals, and fire are still posted on the bridge.

The bridge crosses Loyalsock Creek 2.6 miles (4.2 km) northeast and upstream of the unincorporated village of Hillsgrove,[2] and is just south of Elkland Township.

[14] Although there were 30 covered bridges in Sullivan County in 1890, only five were left by 1954, and as of 2015 only three remain: Forksville, Hillsgrove, and Sonestown.

[3][15] The Hillsgrove bridge was built for Sullivan County by Sadler Rogers (or Rodgers), a native of Forksville who was only 18 years old at the time.

[3][16] The Forksville and Hillsgrove bridges both cross Loyalsock Creek, with the latter about 5 miles (8 km) further downstream.

A sign posted on the east portal above the clearance preserves the following 19th-century limits on its use: "Notice: All persons are forbidden to ride drive or lead any animal over this bridge faster than a walk or to drive more than 15 head of cattle horses or mules thereon at one time or to carry fire thereon except in a safe vessel under a penalty of not less than $.30 for each offence.

The bridge is supported by a Burr arch truss, and is similar in design and construction to the one in Forksville.

[17] Prior to the 2010 restoration, the sides were unpainted, but the portals were painted red, while the gable roof was sheet metal which had been installed over the original wooden shake shingles.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission now forbids the destruction of any covered bridge on the NRHP in the state and has to approve any renovation work.

[24] Between about 1870 and 1890, logging in the Loyalsock Creek watershed produced lumber rafts that floated beneath the bridge.

[2] T. Corbin Lewis, a retired electrical contractor from Hillsgrove Township, restored the bridge in 1968.

[22] The concrete reinforcement on the southwest abutment of the Hillsgrove bridge is dated 1968,[26] but the other work done in this restoration is not documented.

Lewis also restored the Forksville Covered Bridge in 1970, with what its NRHP nomination form describes as "all kinds of odd repairs".

[4] A 1936 photograph of the bridge shows no windows on the south side, and no concrete reinforcement of the eastern abutment.

In any case, the limited access did not cause any problems for the four-month period while the Elk Creek bridge was replaced.

[32][33] In 2011, the bridge was badly damaged by historic flooding from Hurricane Irene in late August and Tropical Storm Lee in early September.

[18][34] Sullivan County applied for and received Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for repairs to both bridges.

The NBI measures bridge length between the "backwalls of abutments" or pavement grooves and the roadway width as "the most restrictive minimum distance between curbs or rails".