The Brown Covered Bridge is a wooden

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

Shrewsbury, Vermont Shrewsbury is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for the Earl of Shrewsbury. The population was 1,096 at the 2020 census. Shrewsbury was the home of the late U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords. In 1986/87, the town rece ...

. Located in the northwestern part of the town, it carries Upper Cold River Road over the Cold River. It was closed to vehicular traffic in 2011 due to damage from

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 ...

and reopened as a National Historic Site on July 5, 2016. Built in 1880 by noted Vermont bridgewright Nichols M. Powers, it was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 2014, cited as one of the finest and least-altered examples of a Town lattice truss covered bridge in the United States.

Description and history

The Brown Covered Bridge is set in a remote wooded ravine in northwestern Shrewsbury, about southeast of Rutland, Vermont. The bridge is a single span lattice truss of a type patented by architect

Ithiel Town Ithiel Town (October 3, 1784 – June 13, 1844) was an American architect and civil engineer. One of the first generation of professional architects in the United States, Town made significant contributions to American architecture in the f ...

in 1820. It is in length, and rests on stone

abutments An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

that have been capped in concrete. One of the abutments includes an extremely large boulder, a clear adaptation of the bridge to its location. The bridge is believed to be the only standing covered bridge in the United States with a slate roof, a once-common local variant feature of area covered bridges. It has vertical weatherboard siding, with a small opening at the eaves. The bridge has a roadway width of . The bridge has received only routine maintenance throughout its lifespan, most recently in 2002, when it was resided and its abutments treated. The Brown Bridge sustained minor damage from flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, and was closed. It was slated for rehabilitation after a 2008 inspection. This bridge was not the first to stand on the site, with maps of the area showing a crossing here as early as the mid 19th century. The location is about northwest of the home of George Brown, for whom the bridge was named. It was built in 1880 at a cost of less than $1100, by Nichols M. Powers, a noted Vermont bridgewright who then lived in nearby Clarendon. It is the last bridge known to have been built by Powers, who died in 1897. Powers' most famous work, the

Old Blenheim Bridge Old Blenheim Bridge was a wooden covered bridge that spanned Schoharie Creek in North Blenheim, New York, United States. With an open span of , it had the second longest span of any surviving single-span covered bridge in the world. The 1862 B ...

Schoharie, New York Schoharie ( ) is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Schoharie County, New York. The population was 3,299 at the 2000 census. The Town of Schoharie has a village, also called Schoharie. Both are derived from the Mohawk word for dr ...

, was destroyed by flooding caused by Irene in 2011. The bridge was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1974. It is one of about 110 surviving Town lattice truss bridges built before 1955, and was identified as one of a few high-quality covered bridges in a nationwide survey conducted by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

in the 2000s. The bridge was designated a

in 2014.

References

External links

* {{NRHP in Rutland County, Vermont Covered bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Covered bridges in Rutland County, Vermont Buildings and structures in Shrewsbury, Vermont Bridges completed in 1880 Wooden bridges in Vermont Historic American Engineering Record in Vermont National Historic Landmarks in Vermont National Register of Historic Places in Rutland County, Vermont Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont Lattice truss bridges in the United States

Description and history

See also

References

External links