Bartonsville Covered Bridge

Bartonsville Covered Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The Northeast approach to the Bartonsville bridge
Location:	Bartonsville, Vermont
Coordinates:	43°13′27.23″N 72°32′12.45″W
Built:	1871
Architect:	Granger, Sanford
Governing body:	Local
NRHP Reference#:	73000201
Added to NRHP:	July 2, 1973

The Bartonsville Covered Bridge was a wooden covered bridge in the village of Bartonsville, in Rockingham, Vermont, United States. Built in 1870 by Sanford Granger, the bridge was a lattice truss style with a 151 foot span across the Williams River. In 2011, it was destroyed in flooding caused by Hurricane Irene, 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.

It was located on Lower Bartonsville Road, a paved road a short distance north from Vermont Route 103. Nearby, to the east, is the Worrall Covered Bridge, 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 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'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.