Bartonsville Covered Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Bartonsville Covered Bridge was a wooden covered bridge
Covered bridge
A covered bridge is a bridge with enclosed sides and a roof, often accommodating only a single lane of traffic. Most covered bridges are wooden; some newer ones are concrete or metal with glass sides...

 in the village of Bartonsville, in Rockingham
Rockingham, Vermont
Rockingham is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, along the Connecticut River. The population was 5,309 at the 2000 census. Rockingham includes the incorporated villages of Bellows Falls and Saxtons River, as well as a large rural area west of Interstate 91.Rockingham has no formal...

, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Built in 1870 by Sanford Granger, the bridge was a lattice truss style with a 151 foot span across the Williams River
Williams River (Vermont)
The Williams River is a river in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is a tributary of the Connecticut River. Its watershed covers 117 square miles; land use is about 80% forested and 4% agricultural, and the upper river supports wild brook trout and brown trout ....

. In 2011, it was destroyed in flooding caused by Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene (2011)
Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011...

, but it is expected to be rebuilt.

History

The bridge was built after the great flood of 1869 that changed the course of the river replacing another covered bridge about 1/4 mile up the road where the river used to flow. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

It was located on Lower Bartonsville Road, a paved road a short distance north from Vermont Route 103
Vermont Route 103
Vermont Route 103 is a north–south state highway in southern Vermont, United States. It runs from Rockingham in the east to Clarendon near Rutland in the west...

. Nearby, to the east, is the Worrall Covered Bridge
Worrall Covered Bridge
The Worrall Covered Bridge is a wooden covered bridge in Rockingham, Vermont, United States. Built in 1868 by Sanford Granger, the bridge is a lattice style with an 87 foot span across the Williams River...

, also built by Granger.

In the 1960s, a Town of Rockingham gravel truck fell through the bridge cutting off cars from Lower Bartonsville Village from the direct link to Vermont Route 103
Vermont Route 103
Vermont Route 103 is a north–south state highway in southern Vermont, United States. It runs from Rockingham in the east to Clarendon near Rutland in the west...

 until the floor was replaced. In the early 1980s extensive renovation were conducted on the bridge, including replacing the abutment on the north side of the bridge, reinforcing the original stone abutments on the south side of the bridge, and replacing the roof and the weathered siding.

Destruction and replacement

On August 28, 2011, the bridge was destroyed by flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall from Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene (2011)
Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011...

's landfall on the U.S. East Coast. An effort to
rebuild the structure has been supported by town officials, who voted to use the bridge's insurance money to build another covered bridge.
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