Best's Covered Bridge

Best's Covered Bridge (aka Swallow's Bridge) is a historic covered bridge in West Windsor, Vermont, that carries Churchill Road over Mill Creek, just south of Vermont Route 44. Built in 1889, it is an architecturally distinctive laminated arch structure with a post-and-beam superstructure. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[1]

Best's Covered Bridge
LocationAbout 8 miles (13 km) west of Windsor village, Churchill Road S. of Vermont Route 44, West Windsor, Vermont
Coordinates43°27′19″N 72°30′58″W
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No.73000210[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 2, 1973

Description and history

Best's Covered Bridge is located about 8 miles (13 km) west of Windsor's village center, just south of VT 44 on Churchill Road. It is a single-span laminated arch structure, with a total length of 37 feet (11 m) and a roadway width of 12.5 feet (3.8 m) (one lane). It rests on stone abutments. The arch is formed out of five layers of planking that have been laminated and bolted together. The floor stringers are supported by iron suspension rods descending from the arches, which are complemented by wooden posts rising above the arches. The arches are protected by a post-and-beam frame structure, its exterior clad in vertical boarding, with a metal roof overhead.[2]

The bridge was built in 1889 by Stephen F. Hammond (1836–1913), a local wheelwright from Brownsville. Some sources state that Amasa W. Swallow (1829–1894) built the bridge, an error that may have originated in a misreading of the 1889 town report. Documentary evidence suggests that the notation, "new covered bridge by Amasa W. Swallow," is actually a reference to the bridge's location.[3]

The bridge's names come from Amasa W. Swallow, who owned the adjacent farm in the 1880s, and William Edgar Best (1869–1971), who in 1896, two years after Swallow's death, purchased the property.[3][4][5]

The laminated arch construction is unusual for 19th-century bridges in Vermont, but is well suited for use on a short crossing on a lightly traveled road.[2][5]

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See also

Other covered bridges in Windsor County, Vermont

Other covered bridges in nearby Cornish

Other bridges elsewhere

National Register listings of area bridges

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "NRHP nomination for Best's Covered Bridge". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
  3. "Swallow's Bridge (Best's Bridge), Spanning Mill Brook at Churchill Road, Windsor, Windsor County, Vermont," HAER (1991) (accessible via LOC)
  4. "West Windsor," Springfield Reporter (Springfield, Vermont), May 1, 1896, p. 4, col. 4 (www.newspapers.com/clip/50748765/springfield-reporter/)
  5. "Best Covered Bridge". Vermont Covered Bridges. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
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