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Sanborn or Centre (relocated), Caledonia County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: VT/45-03-05
County: Caledonia County
Township: Lyndon
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Sanborn or Centre (relocated)
Crosses: Passumpsic River
Truss type: Paddleford
Spans: 1
Length: 117'
Roadway Width: 17.5'
Built: 1867 or 1873 (M1960)
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N44 32.645
Longitude: W072 00.052
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 0.1 miles south of jct VT114/122 on west side of US5. North edge of Lyndonville.

Sanborn or Centre Bridge, Lyndon, Caledonia County, VT Built 1867 or 1873 (M1960)
Bill Caswell Photo, November 2007

Sanborn or Centre Bridge, Lyndon, Caledonia County, VT Built 1867 or 1873
Bill Caswell Photo, September 8, 2013

Sanborn or Centre Bridge, Lyndon, Caledonia County, VT Built 1867 or 1873
Richard E. Roy Collection

Sanborn or Centre Bridge, Lyndon, Caledonia County, VT Built 1867 or 1873
Richard Donovan / Trish Kane Collection

Sanborn or Centre Bridge, Lyndon, Caledonia County, VT Built 1867 (Moved 1960)
Bob Sheldon Photo, September 10, 2011

Sanborn or Centre (original location) Bridge, Lyndon, Caledonia County, VT Built 1867 or 1873 Moved 1960
Todd Clark Collection

Comments:
Note: This bridge is not presently standing. It was removed on August 15 & 16, 2024 to be reconstructed at a later date. Moved 1960. 14-panel truss. The portal carries an 1867 date. N.G. Templeton dates the bridge to 1869 in his pamphlet "Vermont's Covered Bridges." Milton Graton felt that it was constructed in 1873. An earlier bridge was constructed in Benjamin Sanborn's meadow in 1858. This note in the Vermont Record (Brandon) of December 7, 1867, might refer to the bridge, "Work is progressing finely on the new bridge in Lyndon. Both sides of the new bridge are now raised and the workmen are about to put on the roof and the covering. It is to be a substantial and thoroughly built structure." Per The Barre Daily Times, June 16, 1926, the covered bridge between Lyndonville and Lyndon Center was partially destroyed by flooding. In 1960, Milton Graton moved the bridge through Lyndonville to its present location which was at the time behind the Lynburke Motel. The motel is now gone. In 2013, there was concern that the bridge was in danger of collapsing due to a number of broken structural members. The National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges contributed funds to stabilize the structure. Tim Andrews of Barns & Bridges of New England made the repairs during the fall and winter of 2013. At the time a full restoration was estimated at $1.2 million. In January 2022, the Town of Lyndon received a $100,000 grant towards that work. Other grants were obtained and by early 2024, the project was being designed. Once the bridge work is completed, a park is planned to be added to the southern end of the bridge.

Sources:
Vermont Record (Brandon), December 7, 1867.
The Barre Daily Times, June 16, 1926.
Barna, Ed. Covered Bridges of Vermont, 1996, Pages 205-206
Nelson, Joseph C.. Spanning Time - Vermont's Covered Bridges, 1997, Pages 105-107
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXV, No. 2, July 1967, pages 4 & 5
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXXIX, No. 3, Summer 1981, page 14.
Conwill, Joseph D.. Images of America - Vermont Covered Bridges, 2004, page 125
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 139

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