New England Covered Bridges Through Time

A complete guide to more than 200 covered bridges in the six New England states.

New England Covered Bridges Through Time shows the changes to these beloved symbols of Americana since they became major tourist attractions early in the twentieth century. Many covered bridges have been replaced with modern structures, and most of those which remain have also changed as the landscape around them has become more suburban. A few remnants remain the same, and still evoke old New England. This book shows how there historical bridges have fared in the modern world.

During the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth centuries, the erection of nearly one thousand covered bridges was recorded in New England's archives. However, the ravages of time, storms, floods, neglect, and vandals have reduced the remaining historic, authentic covered bridges to fewer than two hundred. While the majority of these bridges are in the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, wonderful examples of covered bridges can be found in all six of the New England states.

This book includes the three Historic Covered Bridges in Connecticut, along with the oldest covered bridge in Maine, and a few other covered bridges we found in our travels. Photos of all, my comments on how and why these pictures came about and a few Facts about each. This book came about because my brother John who had moved to California from Connecticut over 50 years ago and was unable to view my photos on line. And then the Forestville, Ct postman, Tom, told me about the Comstock Bridge, which I did not know about and that made my book complete. My son-in-law also picked up on my enthusiasm for pictures of covered bridges and he also made a couple of contributions to this book. It has been a fun project in my 82nd year. Enjoy !

Covered Bridges are historic pieces of American and Canadian rural history, gracing the countryside from Oregon to Tennessee and from California to New Brunswick and across Canada. In this lavishly illustrated volume Joseph D. Conwill recounts the rich, romantic history of covered bridges as they developed from early timber bridges, born out of the traditions of Medieval times, into modernized structures designed for the motorized traffic of the early twentieth century. Reflecting on the efforts to keep covered bridges in service as the face of the rural landscape is transformed, and the challenge of preserving their historic character while making them safe for modern traffic, Conwill guides the reader across the diverse range of covered bridges to be found throughout the North America.

Bridges are one of the most important artefacts constructed by man, the structures having had an incalculable effect on the development of trade and civilisation throughout the world. Their construction has led to continuing advances in civil engineering technology, leading to bigger spans and the use of new materials. Their failures, too, whether from an inadequate understanding of engineering principles or as a result of natural catastrophes or warfare, have often caused immense hardship as a result of lost lives or broken communications. In this book, a sister publication to his earlier An Encyclopaedia of British Bridges (Pen & Sword 2019), David McFetrich gives brief descriptions of some 1200 bridges from more than 170 countries around the world. They represent a wide range of different types of structure (such as beam, cantilever, stayed and suspension bridges). Although some of the pictures are of extremely well-known structures, many are not so widely recognisable and a separate section of the book includes more than seventy lists of bridges with distinctly unusual characteristics in their design, usage and history.

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