Below is a list of covered bridges in Vermont. There are just over 100 authentic covered bridges in the U.S. state of Vermont, giving the state both the highest number of covered bridges per square mile and per capita in the United States, as well as North America overall. A covered bridge is considered authentic not due to its age, but by its construction. An authentic bridge is constructed using trusses rather than other methods such as stringers (a popular choice for non-authentic covered bridges). Most covered bridges in Vermont are made with local timber and adhere to vernacular adaptations of historically popular construction practices that once covered much of the eastern United States, and so no two of them are exactly alike. It's estimated that as many as 700 covered bridges may have existed across Vermont in the past, many of which perished or were replaced after the flood of 1927 and resulting New Deal era.
Vermont alone possesses more than half of the roughly 200 remaining historic covered bridges across the New England states, and the third most overall after Pennsylvania and Ohio. Almost all of the remaining bridges are treated as protected landmarks in their respective communities, tended to by local and state preservation organizations. Covered bridges are widely popular with locals and visitors alike and serve as tourist attractions and pride for their communities and Vermont overall, in addition to their genuine utility. Some are even used as components of swimming holes in the mountains and valleys of Vermont, such as the Grist Mill bridge in Cambridge. Covered bridges historically in some circles were referred to as "kissing bridges" during the more modest era of the late 19th Century, as the privacy from passing through a covered bridge would allow passengers in horse and buggy an opportunity to kiss each other unobserved, particularly for longer, one-laned bridges like the Cornish-Windsor. Many published and locally-recommended "covered bridge tours" post mapped out road directions to efficiently access areas with high concentrations of bridges; some people have visited every single bridge in the state through this strategy.
Vermont's geography is extremely rugged with dense woods crisscrossed by outposts of civilization along river valleys. This makes covered bridges ideal for providing year-round access to roads which would otherwise be impassable, as well as being historically easily constructed with local materials. Besides prolonging the lifespan of the wooden bridge structure significantly, as well as providing a stable 4-season crossing of a river, a bridge with a covering eventually also found popularity with farmers who found an unintended benefit in herding livestock such as cattle across bodies of water without startling them. As cows (and many horses) have evolved with an innate aversion to uneven terrain and moving water, a covered bridge would obscure the view of the swift-flowing river beneath them and allow the animal and its owner to cross unperturbed in any weather condition.
Montgomery possesses the most covered bridges of any municipality in Vermont, with seven. Other towns with high concentrations of bridges are Bennington, Lyndon, Rockingham, Northfield and (the aptly named) Tunbridge, all of which have five. Northfield additionally boasts the only road in the United States carried over three distinct 19th century covered bridges, as well as the only place where two can be observed from the same point, the upper, middle and lower Cox Brook Road bridges. Vermont also shares the longest 19th century covered bridge in the United States with New Hampshire, the Cornish-Windsor bridge straddling the Connecticut river. Additionally, every county in Vermont except for Grand Isle has at least one covered bridge. There is approximately one covered bridge every 92 square miles in Vermont, and one per every 6,172 of its residents. Many can and do carry vehicle traffic, but care must be taken to avoid driving vehicles that are overweight or overheight to prevent damage to the antiquated and load-bearing timber construction; some bridges are rated as low as 8,000 pounds GVW.
↑ This is the longest covered bridge completely within Vermont borders.
↑ Replaced in 1982 with a bridge of similar design, after a truck broke the old bridge in 1980. See "Around Bellows Falls: Rockingham, Westminster, and Saxtons River" By Anne L. Collins, Virginia Lisai, and Louise Luring. Arcadia Publishing, 2002. ISBN978-0-7385-1033-0, page 127. Parts of the old bridge are on display outside the Saxtons River Cemetery on Westminster St.
↑ In a field across from Weathersfield Elementary School. Owners welcome visitors. No motor traffic.
↑ Located a few yards south of Willard Bridge. Replaces a Covered Bridge previously at this location prior to 1938.
↑ This bridge is mostly in New Hampshire, due to the state line being the western edge of the river. Longest wooden bridge in the United States. Longest two span covered bridge in the world
↑ At the entrance to a Nature and Fitness trail, near the Elementary School.
1 2 Caswell, William S. World Guide to Covered Bridges (2021ed.). Concord, New Hampshire: National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. pp.137–154. ISBN978-0-578-30263-8.
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