County Farm Bridge (Wilton, New Hampshire)

The County Farm Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge in Wilton, New Hampshire. Built in 1885, it carries Old County Farm over Whiting Brook, just south of its northern junction with Burton Highway in a rural section of northwestern Wilton. It is an unusually late and well-preserved example of a 19th-century stone arch bridge, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.[1]

County Farm Bridge
LocationOld County Farm Rd., Wilton, New Hampshire
Coordinates42°51′25″N 71°49′3″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1885 (1885)
Built byWard Bros.
Architectural stylestone arch
NRHP reference No.81000070[1]
Added to NRHPMay 14, 1981

Description and history

Old County Farm Road was the main access road to the Hillsborough County Poor Farm, and is now an unmaintained class 6 road. The bridge consists of a single stone arch with a span just under 18 feet (5.5 m). It is lined with cut granite voussoirs 18 inches (46 cm) thick. The arch begins on land 7 feet (2.1 m) above the water, and the arch rises to a height of 15 feet 10 inches (4.8 m) above the typical water level. The arch is embedded in a causeway which is 430 feet (130 m) long and has a base width of 29 feet (8.8 m).[2]

The bridge was built in 1885 for the town by the Ward brothers of Lowell, Massachusetts, at a cost of $3,000. The Wards were well known for work they did on railroad bridges, which often employed stone arches. Stone for the bridge was quarried in Wilton, from a quarry that also supplied granite for public works projects in the town center. The bridge has been little altered since its construction: the arch was originally dry laid, but a number of joints in the barrel of the arch have subsequently been mortared with concrete.[2]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "NRHP nomination for County Farm Bridge". National Park Service. Retrieved 2014-05-13.
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