The Enfield–Suffield Covered Bridge was 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 ...

over the Connecticut River located between

Enfield, Connecticut Enfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, first settled by John and Robert Pease of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony. The population was 42,141 at the 2020 census. It is bordered by Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and East Long ...

, and

Suffield, Connecticut Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It was once within the boundaries of Massachusetts. The town is located in the Connecticut River Valley with the town of Enfield neighboring to the east. As of the 2020 census, ...

. The bridge connected Bridge Lane on the Enfield (east) side of the river with Bridge Street on the Suffield side of the river. Half of the bridge was destroyed in a flood on February 15, 1900. Hosea Keach, agent for the

New Haven Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

at Enfield Bridge station, which was at the entrance to the bridge, was on the bridge when it collapsed. He rode a piece of the span down the river, and climbed to the roof, where he was seen by two railroad employees at the

Warehouse Point railroad bridge The Warehouse Point railroad bridge is a girder bridge with a truss main span crossing the Connecticut River between Enfield and Suffield, Connecticut. It carries Amtrak's New Haven–Springfield Line. The bridge has spaces for two tracks, but on ...

. They lowered a rope from the railroad bridge as he passed below, rescuing him. The remains of the bridge were purchased by

Southern New England Telephone The Southern New England Telephone Company (commonly referred to as SNETCo by its customers), doing business as Frontier Communications of Connecticut, is a local exchange carrier owned by Frontier Communications. History It started operations o ...

, which blew up the remaining part of the bridge and used the piers for carrying telephone wires across the river.

References

Covered bridges in Connecticut Bridges over the Connecticut River Bridge disasters in the United States Bridges completed in 1832 Wooden bridges in Connecticut Bridges in Hartford County, Connecticut Road bridges in Connecticut Transportation disasters in Connecticut Former toll bridges in Connecticut {{Connecticut-bridge-struct-stub

See also

References