Vermont's Covered Bridges - Windsor County
Vermont's Covered Bridges - Windsor County
Vermont’s covered bridges typify the beauty and grace of simple structures. Covered bridges in Vermont are not only beautiful, but they’re also functional. Few historic landmarks conjure a finer kind of nostalgia than covered bridges on country roads. Below is a list of some of the covered bridges in Vermont.
Baltimore Covered Bridge
The bridge was originally built in 1870 by Granville Leland and Dennis Allen over Great Brook in North Springfield, Vermont on the road leading to the small town of Baltimore, Vermont. It is a small bridge, only 44 feet long.
Location:
0.9 miles west of jct I-91 (Exit 7) on US5/VT11 (stay on VT11 when US5 goes south) to Eureka Schoolhouse Park and bridge on right side of road.
Best's Covered Bridge
Best’s Covered Bridge (aka Swallow’s Bridge) is a historic covered bridge in West Windsor, Vermont, that carries Churchill Road over Mill Brook, just south of Vermont Route 44. Built in 1889, it is an architecturally distinctive laminated arch structure with a post-and-beam superstructure. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Location:
Bowers Covered Bridge
The Bowers Covered Bridge (aka Brownsville Bridge) is a historic covered bridge, carrying Bible Hill Road across Mill Brook in the Brownsville section of West Windsor, Vermont. Built in 1919, it has a laminated-arch deck covered by a post-and-beam superstructure, similar to Best’s Covered Bridge, Windsor’s other historic covered bridge. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It was rebuilt after being swept off its foundation in 2011 by Hurricane Irene, but has been damaged by vehicle strikes several times since then, and is being considered for closure.
Location:
1.3 miles west of main intersection in Brownsville on VT44, then 0.3 miles right on Bible Hill Rd.
Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge
The Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge is a 158-year-old, two-span, timber Town lattice-truss, interstate, covered bridge that crosses the Connecticut River between Cornish, New Hampshire (on the east), and Windsor, Vermont (on the west). Until 2008, when the Smolen–Gulf Bridge opened in Ohio, it had been the longest covered bridge (still standing) in the United States.
Location:
0.5 miles north of Cornish City Rd on NH12A, then just left on Bridge St.
Lincoln Covered Bridge
The Lincoln Covered Bridge is a historic covered bridge, just south of U.S. Route 4 in West Woodstock, Vermont. Built in 1877, it is one of the only known examples of a wooden Pratt truss bridge in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Location:
Just south of U.S. Route 4 in West Woodstock.
Martin's Mill Covered Bridge
The Martin’s Mill Covered Bridge is a wooden covered bridge spanning Lull’s Brook on Martinsville Road in Hartland, Vermont. Built about 1880, it is one of two surviving 19th-century covered bridges in the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Location:
0.4 miles north of jct I-91 (Exit 9) on US5, then 0.6 miles right on Martinsville Rd.
Middle Covered Bridge
Built-in 1969 by Milton Graton to replace an 1877 iron bridge, the Middle Covered Bridge is the second-youngest structure in our list but contains centuries’ worth of charm! That’s because it was constructed using traditional methods and materials down to the wooden pegs in lieu of nails. After it was set aflame by arsonists in 1974, the bridge was repaired to its current glory
Location:
North Hartland Twin Covered Bridge
The Willard Covered Bridge is a historic covered bridge carrying Mill Street across the Ottauquechee River in Hartland, Vermont. It is the eastern of two covered bridges on the road, which are connected via a small island in the river; the western bridge was built in 2001.
Location:
| 5.5 miles north of jct I-91 (Exit 9) on US5 and right 0.5 miles on Mill St. |
Quechee Covered Bridge
The Covered Bridge in Quechee, Vermont is in the same location as other bridges that have spanned the Ottauquechee River beginning in 1769. The present bridge replaces a previous covered bridge (1885) that was severely damaged in a flood in 1927. The concrete and steel deck portions were completed in 1933. The wooden covering was added in 1969. It was dedicated on May 21, 1970. The original bridge, which was a concrete bridge with a wooden cover added in 1970, had suffered massive damage due to Hurricane Irene in 2011. The hurricane dumped enough water in the region that the gorge had filled, flooding the bridge and damaging it and nearby buildings.
Location:
Downtown Quechee
Salmond Covered Bridge
This bridge was named after the Salmond family who lived near its original location near Stoughton Pond. With the coming of the North Springfield dam, the Salmond and Stoughton Bridges needed to be removed from the flood control basin. In response to community concerns initiated by the Weathersfield Historical Society, the flood control project contractor hired Milton Graton and Sons to move the bridges. This bridge was moved to Amsden in 1959 where it was converted to an equipment shed by the Town of Weathersfield. In 1960, it was described as sheathed with imitation red-brick siding and punctured by eight utility windows. It was moved again in 1986 by Milton Graton and Sons who also restored it.
Location:
Next to Route 131 in Amsden
South Pomfret Covered Bridge
The South Pomfret Covered Bridge, a covered Town lattice, carries a private driveway over Barnard Brook in Windsor County, Vermont. Known as the Garfield Covered Bridge, the bridge was originally constructed over the Green River on Carpenter Hill Road in Hyde Park in Lamoille County.
Location:
| 1.2 miles north of jct US4 on VT12, then 1.8 miles right on Pomfret Rd. and walk 0.1 miles left on farm access road at #1999. At South Pomfret. |
Taftsville Covered Bridge
The Taftsville Covered Bridge is a timber-framed covered bridge which spans the Ottauquechee River in the Taftsville village of Woodstock, Vermont, in the United States. Built in 1836 and exhibiting no influence from patented bridge designs, it is among the oldest remaining covered bridges both in Vermont and the nation as a whole.
The Taftsville Bridge was extensively damaged by flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011, and was closed for two years while repairs took place. It was reopened in September 2013.
Location:
Upper Falls Covered Bridge
The Upper Falls Covered Bridge, also known as the Downers Covered Bridge, spans the Black River, carrying Upper Falls Road just south of Vermont Route 131 in western Weathersfield, Vermont. The Town lattice truss bridge was built in 1840 and rebuilt in 2008.
Location:
0.3 miles west of jct VT106 on VT131, then 0.1 miles left on Upper Falls Rd. Southwest of Amsden.
Willard Covered Bridge
The Willard Covered Bridge is a historic covered bridge carrying Mill Street across the Ottauquechee River in Hartland, Vermont. It is the eastern of two covered bridges on the road, which are connected via a small island in the river; the western bridge was built in 2001.
Location:
| 5.5 miles north of jct I-91 (Exit 9) on US5 and right 0.5 miles on Mill St. |