A complete guide to more than 200 covered bridges in the six New England states.

During the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth centuries, the erection of nearly one thousand covered bridges was recorded in New England’s archives. However, the ravages of time, storms, floods, neglect, and vandals have reduced the remaining historic, authentic covered bridges to fewer than two hundred. While the majority of these bridges are in the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, wonderful examples of covered bridges can be found in all six of the New England states.

In the preparation for writing this book, the Evanses traveled 13,821 miles documenting and photographing more than 200 covered bridges. The introduction to the book familiarizes readers with covered bridges by discussing their history, twelve different kinds of truss designs, and current preservation and restoration efforts. The Evanses provide, for each of the 206 bridges in this book, the name of the bridge, its location, specific directions to the bridge, its year of construction, its truss design, and the name of the waterway it crosses. Additional information includes whether the bridge is in use, its number of spans, the names of its owner and builder, its length and width, its condition, number, national register data, and anecdotal material. A short glossary of covered-bridge terminology is also included.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface • Acknowledgements • Introduction - I. Covere Bridges in New England • II. Locating Covered Bridges • III. The Structure of New England's Covered Bridges • IV. Working to Preserve New England's Covered Bridges • V. The Rehabilitation of New England's Covered Bridges • VI. The Guide to New England's Covered Bridges • VII. Covered Bridge Terminology • Connecticut - Hartford County • Litchfield County • Middlesex County • Tolland County • Maine - Aroostook County • Cumberland County • Lincoln County • Oxford County • Oxford/York Counties • Penobscot County • Piscataquis County • Massachusetts - Berkshire County • Essex County • Franklin County • Hampden County • Hampshire/Worchester Counties • Middlesex County • Worchester County • New Hampshire - Belknap County • Carroll County • Cheshire County • Coos County • Grafton County • Hillsborough County • Merrimack County • Strafford County • Sullivan County • New Hampshire/Vermont - Coos/Essex Counties • Sullivan/Windsor Counties • Rhode Island - Providence County • Vermont - Addison County • Bennington County • Caledonia County • Chittendon County • Franklin County • Lamoille County • Orange County • Orleans County • Rutland County • Washington County • Windham County • Windsor County • Bibilography • Index of Bridges

BENJAMIN D. EVANS and JUNE R. EVANS are the authors of Pennsylvania's Covered Bridges: A Complete Guide (1993). Long-time covered-bridge aficionados, they are co-editors of Pennsylvania Crossings, the newsletter of The Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society of Pennsylvania, Inc. They are also members of covered bridge societies in several other eastern states including the Vermont Covered Bridge Society and the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges.

University Press of New England
2004 • 368 pp. 180 illus. 5 1/2 x 9"
Travel & Tourism / New England