Covered Bridges on Two Wheels
A photographic journey to Vermont's Covered Bridges
Titcomb Bridge
 August 2014 |  August 2014 |
|---|---|
 August 2014 |  August 2014 |
This bridge is another that was moved in 1959 in order to build a flood control project. It was formerly located on the Black River in Weathersfield and if still in place, would be underwater in the middle of Stoughton Pond. When it was located there, the Titcomb Bridge was known as the Stoughton Bridge, for the adjacent landowners.
When it came time to move the bridge, no one had a good idea as to where to move it to. Luckily it didn't end up as a shed like its sister, the Salmond Bridge. A local historian, Andrew Titcomb, volunteered to have it moved over a brook in a pasture he owned, and there it still resides.
Current Status: Private
Location: Weathersfield, off Route 106
Crosses: Schoolhouse Brook
GPS: 43.367455N, 72.516237W
Built: 1880 Length: 48 feet
Truss Design: Multiple kingpost
WGN*: VT-14-04 NRHP**: not eligible
* WGN: World Guide to Covered Bridges Number
**NRHP: Listed on National Register of Historic Places
Other than its move, the bridge has had an uneventful existence. It still bears metal advertising signs from back in the day, and appears to have been put into use as a pass-through for utility lines as there still exist glass insulators and wiring along the ceiling. In more recent years, in addition to being used by the property owner, it had been used as a part of a snowmobile trail network.
Visiting the bridge:
The two printed guides that I primarily consulted for this web site both claim that the owners (who live in that big farmhouse adjacent to the field) allow people to drive into the field where this bridge is located, on an old farm road, and up to the bridge. When I visited in 2014, there was no one home to ask, I also didn't notice that there was a road... it wasn't obvious. Regardless, I wouldn't have taken my motorcycle up there.
A Google Street View of the field here does indeed show a couple of tracks in the grass where vehicles have driven.
So all this is to say, maybe you can drive up to the bridge, maybe you can't! If you can not, then you can probably park just off the road and walk up.
Either way, do NOT cross the bridge with your vehicle. When I visited, a farm rake was chained down across the inside of the bridge to prevent cars from crossing.
The address in the map above is the owner's farmhouse. The bridge is way back in the field, on the tree line just to the north of the house, almost directly across from the former Weathersfield Elementary School.