I finally had a chance to visit a few of the covered bridges in the state of my birth. There’s only six remaining in Maryland and I visited half this morning.

The Gilpin’s Falls Covered Bridge is a great example of why these structures are now so rare, but also why any still exist at all. It was built around 1860 and was in regular use until the 1930′s when it was bypassed for a concrete bridge. The bridge was not well maintained and in 1958 heavy snow finally collapsed the roof. The bridge was described a year later as a “skeletonized ruin”. Fortunately it was restored that same year.

Another 50 years passed and in 2010 the bridge was again restored, this time by some great folks from New Hampshire.

If you’re lucky enough to visit the bridge, be sure to check out the decking. It’s a unique system I’ve never seen before. The planks are secured in a kind of rail at the ends, but not nailed down. Many of them spring up and down as you walk on them. An internat acquaintance of mine was among those doing the recent restoration and has this to say about it – http://bridgewright.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/11/ .

For free interactive maps of all the covered bridges in Maryland and the rest of the United States visit coveredbridgemap.com.

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I took a trip through Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts to photograph all the bridges in those states I haven’t been to yet.

Rhode Island has never had many covered bridges – historical records exist for only 5. The last of these was replaced with concrete in 1920.

It was not until 1993, when the Swamp Meadow bridge was opened, that a covered bridge carried traffic in the state again. But just a few months later the bridge was completely destroyed by arsonists. The community rallyed, and rebuilt, opening the current Swamp Meadow bridge in November of 1994.

Connecticut’s newest bridge is the Fitzgerald in Brooklyn. It was opened in 2010.

In the 1960′s a man named Raymond Schmitt started an extraordinary collection. He gathered a Victorian village including a church, homes, and other buildings, as well as furnishing them with antiques. At some point he had this bridge built by Thomas Kronenberger as well. Schmitt called the place Johnsonville Village and hosted weddings and other events.

In the 90′s he got into a dispute with the town, then passed away. His village is now all but abandoned. A few attempts have been made to purchase the village for some new purpose, but nothing has resulted yet. Whatever happens I hope this beautiful bridge is preserved.

This bridge was built in 2002 by Ron Ouelette using trees from the farm and 19th century building techniques. The glaring exception is the set of dormer windows across the south side. The bridge is used as a picnic area and the windows provide added light inside.

The Gilbertville Covered Bridge was closed for 8 years, waiting for repairs. The restoration happened last year and the bridge was opened to traffic once again in October of 2010. It was originally built in 1886.

This bridge is named after the world’s oldest floating naval vessel, the USS Constitution – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution . It was built on private land in 1975.

For free interactive maps of all the covered bridges in the United States visit coveredbridgemap.com .

This bridge spanning the Saco River in Fryeburg, Maine (USA), was built in 1857 by one J. Perry. It was built with a Paddleford truss, but later had arches added for better support. About 25 years ago the bridge deck was further reinforced with steel beams. It’s in a beautiful, quiet spot, exactly as you’d imagine a covered bridge.

For help finding this bridge, or any of the others in the U.S. check out CoveredBridgeMap.com .

Prints and greeting cards of this image are available from FineArtAmerica.com .

Prints and greeting cards available

Labor Day seems like the perfect day to complete a 20 month long project. It was March of 2009 when I first learned that the Waterous Covered Bridge in Pepperell, Massachusetts was being replaced. Since then I’ve made many trips to the site to check on progress and more importantly to try to capture the process in photographs. I’ve made well over 1000 images, but what follows are the best 20 or so. I hope you enjoy this little slice of history…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a few more photos of the beautiful new Pepperell Covered Bridge:

 

 

To help find the new Pepperell Covered Bridge, or any other covered bridge in the U.S., please visit my other site – CoveredBridgeMap.com.