Our Fascination with Covered Bridges
I have a fascination with covered bridges and I think many of you also share this love of these nostalgic reminders of days gone by. Covered bridges reflect the craftsmanship of those times and are a closer tie to the land. I was amazed (You can read that as horrified!!!) to find that Vermont doesn’t have the most covered bridges in the United States OR even the oldest covered bridge either.
For those who are interested, Pennsylvania has the most (as of this writing) and the first “documented” covered bridge built in the USA was the “Permanent covered bridge” in Philadelphia PA, completed in 1805. You can find covered bridges across this country from Maine to Oregon and many places in between. I need a bumper sticker, “I Brake for Covered Bridges!“
Nostalgic Icons of American Life
Covered bridges seem to take us back to an earlier time.(nostalgia) Whether we marvel at the craftsmanship or the stories told about the covered bridge, they seem to universally draw people to them. They have been called Kissing Bridges because couples would sneak away to find a little privacy in the local covered bridge.
They often took names of either the road that went through them, the river that went underneath them, an influential person of that day and age, or in some cases they were associated with a nearby business.
Nearby Business Named Covered Bridge
Here we have the Tannery covered bridge in Gilford New Hampshire. This one was named for the nearby Tannery that was operational in the 1800s.
Although this covered bridge is built like many other covered bridges that were built in the mid-1800s, the Tannery covered bridge was actually built in 1995.
The Tannery-covered bridge also takes the Tannery Road over the Gunstock River. So it takes its name from a nearby business and the road it carries.
Today this one only carries foot traffic but it’s worth getting out of the car and taking a walk along the path through the bridge.
Named for the River and the Road
The Stony Brook Covered Bridge is representative of the end of the era of covered bridge construction in Vermont. It was built in 1899, is was the last king post truss covered bridge built on a Vermont public highway.
A Covered Bridge that isn’t a covered bridge or is it?
The Stoney Brook covered bridge is also known as the Moseley covered bridge. It is one of the Northfield 5-covered bridges.
This covered bridge takes Stoney Brook Road over Stoney Brook and as you can see here looks great in winter or Fall due to being painted red.
I love the Northfield 5 for that reason, all of them are painted red.
You can read more about the Stoney Brook covered bridge in my article on the 5 Northfield Falls Covered Bridges.
Jack O’Lantern Resort Covered Bridge
Now here is a conundrum, here we have a very nice red-covered bridge. The question is, just because it looks like a covered bridge, it feels like a covered bridge but is it a real covered bridge?
Who decides if it gets counted in the covered bridge lists?
Someone asked me recently if they should look for an older Gazetteer because they heard the newest ones don’t have all the same things.
To this point, I had to go and check one of my older New Hampshire Gazetteers (grid 39) and then I checked the newer New Hampshire and Vermont combo Gazetteer (not a fan of them doubling up on the books like that.
The Jack O’Lantern Resort Covered Bridge is in the older Gazetteer but NOT in the newer of the New Hampshire Gazetteers. (Grid 59 in the new book)
So looking for an older one may be good.
So I turned to the internet and Bridgehunter.com. They say that this private covered bridge was built by Milton Graton who was one of a long line of covered bridge builders. Meg Graton contacted me to correct my info. Meg says it is Arnold Graton, (Milton’s son) who is the builder of this covered bridge. Also in going to Arnold’s website, you can see he has built many things besides covered bridges.
The Jack “O” Lantern covered bridge is a lattice truss “replacement” bridge that is a 50% smaller bridge that replaces the original covered bridge spanned the Pemigewasset River until it burned in the 1970s.
You can find this bridge next to Route 3 which runs right along the golf course. It now only carries golf carts and members of the golf club. But my thought on this subject is this. First, If it looks like a covered bridge, second, if it carries traffic, of any type, and thirdly, it was built to look like a covered bridge, then who am I to argue. More to the point if it looks really nice in the afternoon light then I will photograph it (or morning fog…)
Lost Covered Bridges and Marking Their Passing
Fire and storms destroy many of these treasures. More times than naught, arson is the second biggest destroyer of covered bridges. While storms do take many of the covered bridges down, (think of storms Katrina, Irene, and Sandy) Many times a covered bridge floats off its supports and can be brought back and re-installed. With fire, they have to start from scratch. In the 1800s it only cost approx $2,500 to build a covered bridge (remember things were cheaper back then.) Today the Smith Millenium covered bridge cost 3.3 million to build.
Many times the bridges don’t get rebuilt like the Bedell Covered Bridge. You can find this in Bedell Bridge State Park. You may be wondering why a covered bridge rates a state park. Don’t get too excited. Years ago Lisa and I went to find this “state park” and I was soon driving through a farmer’s field wondering where this “State Park” was…
In the end, we found the park but all we found was this gravestone marker to commemorate the covered bridge that was here.
What it doesn’t say is that after all the efforts to preserve this covered bridge, someone came along and burned it down.
Almost lost to Hurricane Irene in 2011
The Taftsville Covered Bridge was originally built in 1836 making it one of the older covered bridges in Vermont. It was badly damaged by Hurricane Irene and as you can see here, rumors of its death were slightly exaggerated. (kind of)
We’re very lucky that the residents living near these covered bridges make sure that when these landmarks get damaged, they get rebuilt. What do you think, should we rebuild them and keep spending money on them? I know my answer but what do you think?
Jeff Foliage Folger
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HI Jeff – Meg Graton here, wife of Arnold Milton Graton. Arnold built the Jack-o-lantern bridge. He and his Dad had a loose partnership but Arnold was the builder not Milton. They worked together on many bridges but as Milton got older Arnold took over as it should be. arnoldmgraton.com
https://bridgehunter.com/nh/grafton/bh59706/
Hi Meg, I finally got around to correcting the article.
So I turned to the internet and Bridgehunter.com.
They say that this private covered bridge was built by Milton Graton who was one of a long line of covered bridge builders.Meg Graton contacted me to correct my info. Meg says it is Arnold Graton, (Milton’s son) who is the builder of this covered bridge. Also in going to Arnold’s website, you can see he has built many things besides covered bridges.If you look at the bridgehunter page you referenced, it says it was hand-built by Milton and then down below it says builder is Arnold associates, so you can see how one might get confused…
Great craftsmanship.
I admire and love to visit the Frankemuth, Michigan covered bridge built by Arnold and Milton about 1962.
A real treasure for us in Michigan.
I haven’t been to Michigan but maybe in the future. All covered bridges are treasures to cherish no mater where they reside!
HI Jeff – Meg Graton here, wife of Arnold Milton Graton. Arnold built the Jack-o-lantern bridge. He and his Dad had a loose partnership but Arnold was the builder not Milton. They worked together on many bridges but as Milton got older Arnold took over as it should be. arnoldmgraton.com
https://bridgehunter.com/nh/grafton/bh59706/
Hi Meg, I finally got around to correcting the article.
So I turned to the internet and Bridgehunter.com.
They say that this private covered bridge was built by Milton Graton who was one of a long line of covered bridge builders.Meg Graton contacted me to correct my info. Meg says it is Arnold Graton, (Milton’s son) who is the builder of this covered bridge. Also in going to Arnold’s website, you can see he has built many things besides covered bridges.If you look at the bridgehunter page you referenced, it says it was hand-built by Milton and then down below it says builder is Arnold associates, so you can see how one might get confused…