New Hampshire Covered Bridges

By Glenn A. Knoblock

New Hampshire once had nearly four hundred covered bridges, most of which unfortunately are no longer in existence. Some of them were railroad bridges and, although often viewed as charming relics of the past, all of these bridges were actually vital links in New Hampshire's transportation system. Covered bridges were used to cross most of New Hampshire's large rivers, including the Connecticut, Merrimack, Mascoma, Contoocook, Pemigewasset, and Ashuelot.New Hampshire Covered Bridges is a photographic study of the state's enclosed wooden spans that date from as far back as 1827. The book contains rare photographs of historic bridges that no longer exist, as well as pictures of many that still stand today. The images are accompanied by detailed information about the design and construction of covered bridges and the men who built them. Each bridge has its own life story. Some have defied floods and hurricanes and still stand; others have fallen victim to nature or arson or the demands of modern transportation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781439628447

Glenn A. Knoblock

Historian Glenn A. Knoblock is the author of several books with Arcadia and The History Press, including New Hampshire Covered Bridges, Brewing in New Hampshire (with James Gunter), New England Shipbuilding and Hidden History of Lake Winnipesaukee. He resides in Wolfeboro Falls, New Hampshire.

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NSPCB.)

INTRODUCTION

New Hampshire has long held a preeminent position in the design and construction of covered bridges and continues to do so to this day. With the numerous rivers found in the Granite State—from the large Connecticut and Merrimack Rivers to the many wild and mountain-born rivers that slice through the state—New Hampshire’s bridge builders were forced to be both innovative and creative to help forge a new infrastructure for a rapidly growing economy. The bridges built to meet such a challenge ran the gamut of sizes, types, and combinations. They included the diminutive Prentiss Bridge in Langdon (36 feet long), the Twin Bridges at Boscawen (a combined 309 feet long), and the Triple Railroad Bridges at Hooksett (a combined 669 feet long). That the state’s bridge builders succeeded is evidenced by the fact that many of their bridges still exist today. The oldest authenticated covered bridge in New Hampshire, the Haverhill-Bath Bridge, was completed in 1829 and is still in use today, 173 years later. Although New Hampshire has done an excellent job preserving its covered bridges, many have been lost due to arson or removed and replaced by more modern bridges designed to carry the heavier loads of today’s cars and trucks. Despite this fact, covered bridges continue to be built throughout the state. The new Slate Road Bridge in Swanzey was completed just last year, replacing a covered bridge on the same spot that was a victim of arson in 1993.

New Hampshire’s bridge builders were famed not just for the bridges they constructed in their home state, but also for their contributions to the field of covered bridge design. Col. Stephen Long is the most well known of these men. A native of West Hopkinton, he graduated from Dartmouth and taught at West Point before entering the U.S. Army. He later became the chief engineer for the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. His boxed truss design for bridges, first patented in 1830, was used extensively across the country for more than 20 years. Bement Bridge in Bradford, built in 1854 to cross the Warner River, is said to have been built by Long himself for $500, and is the oldest Long truss bridge in existence today. Other builders who followed in Long’s footsteps include the Childs brothers, Horace, Warren, and Enoch, of Henniker. They built many covered bridges throughout the state and patented their own truss design. Ironically, only one of their creations, Rowell’s Bridge in West Hopkinton, remains in New Hampshire today, although seven can be found in Ohio and two in Pennsylvania. In contrast to the Childs brothers, the truss design of Peter Paddleford is common in New Hampshire. A native of Littleton, Paddleford modified the Long truss to his own ideal. While his design was never patented, it was used all over New England. Most of the remaining Paddleford truss bridges are found in New Hampshire, with several others found in Maine and Vermont. Not to be forgotten are the works by James Tasker and his partner Bela Fletcher. Although Tasker designed his own truss variant, he also built bridges of the Town lattice type. In addition to many small covered bridges in the area of Cornish and Lebanon, he also built the large spans across the Connecticut River at Cornish-Windsor and Orford-Fairlee. Though he did not have the formal education that Childs and Long had, Tasker was a giant in the state when it came to covered bridge building. His bridge across the Connecticut River at Cornish still stands today. Built in 1866 as a toll bridge, it is the longest covered bridge in the Northeast.

The coming of the railroads in the 1850s meant a new use for an already established structure. More than 100 covered railroad bridges were built in New Hampshire throughout the early part of the 1900s, serving such rail lines as the Claremont and Concord, the Northern Railroad, and the many branches of the Boston and Maine. However, with the decline of the railroad by the 1930s, the railroad covered bridge was doomed. Large, expensive to maintain, and often in remote locations, many were dismantled or destroyed. Today, there are just a handful left.

It is at this point, perhaps, that the true meaning of the term covered bridge should be defined. Put simply, it is a wooden bridge whose trusswork, which supports an attached roadway, is covered to protect it from the weather. This covering often consists of both a roof and walls, giving a bridge the traditional covered look. However, some covered bridges have just the truss itself covered, or boxed, with wooden planks to protect it from the weather, leaving the roadway itself exposed. Thus, it is the covering for the bridge’s truss that defines a true covered bridge. This distinction is important, especially when talking about railroad bridges. Throughout the state, many unusual railroad covered bridges were built of a deck type, with trains running on top of a covered bridge truss below. One such bridge, the Sulphite Railroad Bridge in Franklin, was given the nickname of the Upside Down Bridge. The siding on this bridge was burned in 1981, but the structure still remains and is slated for restoration. It is the only bridge of its type left in the world.

Other non-railroad bridges were built that had just their trusses covered. These were small local bridges, often called boxed pony trusses, that carried both pedestrian and wheeled traffic over small brooks or served as overpasses on local rail lines. Some of these covered bridges replaced simple log bridges from an earlier day. Many local bridges, such as the Whittier Falls and Watson Bridges in Dover were originally built without protection but were later properly covered to join the long list of covered bridges that have served the state through the years.

New Hampshire has many covered bridges still remaining. Let us hope that their continued preservation serves as a reminder of their historic past.

DOVER POINT TOLL BRIDGE, DOVER. This bridge was the centerpiece of the Portsmouth and Dover Railroad. Completed in 1873, it consisted of three types of bridges. Close to the Newington side was the 193-foot-long Howe truss covered portion, connected to the shore on both sides by a wooden trestle bridge. On the Dover Point side was a drawbridge that made way for shipping. It cost $110,000 to build. (Courtesy NSPCB.)

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COVERED BRIDGE DESIGNS AND FEATURES

The heart of any covered bridge is the truss design that enables it to span a particular crossing. Many designs for bridge trusses were used over the years in New Hampshire, but the longest lasting was the Town lattice truss. This simple and effective design was patented by a Connecticut man, Ithiel Town, in 1820. Two New Hampshire men, Sanford Granger and John Briggs, even adapted