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Cheshire Toll, Windsor County

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Inventory Number: VT/45-14-133#2x / NH-10-11#2x
County: Windsor County / Sullivan County
Township: Springfield - Charlestown
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Cheshire Toll
Crosses: Connecticut River
Truss type:
Spans: 3
Length: 600'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1833
Builder:
When Lost: 1897
Cause: Replaced
Latitude: N43 15.62
Longitude: W072 25.64
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: Route 11 between Springfield and Charlestown.

Cheshire Toll Bridge, Charlestown, NH-Springfield, VT (Built 1839 - Lost 1897)
Richard Roy Collection

Cheshire Toll Bridge, Springfield-Charlestown, Windsor County, VT Built 1839 Replaced 1897
Richard Roy Collection

Comments:
Compiled by Bill Caswell from research done by Bunni and Hugh Putnam of Springfield, VT, and the late Richard Sanders Allen. The Cheshire Toll Bridge crossed the Connecticut River between Springfield, Vermont, and Charlestown, New Hampshire. The exact history of the wooden bridges between Springfield and Charlestown is not clear but there were many repairs to be sure. In 1804, incorporation of the Cheshire Bridge Company (named for Cheshire County, NH) was recorded in the land records in Keene with a total investment of $1,350. This money was paid to John Putnam of Springfield (formerly of Charlestown) who owned the ferry rights originally granted by the Governor of New Hampshire to Simeon Olcott. The grant ran one mile north of the mouth of the Black River to four miles south along the Connecticut River. Isaac Fisher, a millwright and one of the investors from Charlestown, is credited with building the first bridge. It was completed on October 10, 1806 although one source notes it as a 3-span, Town lattice truss bridge, this is not possible since the Town lattice had not been developed until 1820. It is not clear where the funds to build the bridge came from but, like most of the bridges across the Connecticut, it was a toll bridge. The Sullivan Mercury, 1831, tells of the western part of the bridge unexpectedly going out at 9:30 pm on March 24, “…the river appeared to be nearly clear of ice at sunset…and the water rather lower than usual at this time of year” [probably an ice jam upstream]. During the repairs the bridge proprietors launched a ferry a few rods upstream so passengers could continue to cross the river. The1832 records in Charlestown list $10,000 for supplies for the bridge repairs. There are many stories of various bridges, or parts thereof, going out in 1824, 1839 and 1841. The 1839 bridge was more likely the Charlestown Bridge at South Charlestown that was built in 1828 and washed out in 1839. (Martha Frizzell, The Second History of Charlestown, NH, page 128) Richard Sanders Allen's research indicated that the first covered span at this location was built in 1827 by Isaac Damon of Northampton, Massachusetts. Six years later, in 1833, Damon returned to build a replacement bridge. In either 1859 or 1862, a freshet carried out the eastern two-thirds of the Cheshire bridge. (MF page 126) It was probably 1859 because in 1860 the bridge was only valued at $1,000 for tax purposes. In 1895 there was a flood and the bridge piers were repaired, using 150 barrels of cement. (MF page 127) The Springfield Electric Railway Company bought the old wooden bridge and ferry rights for $8,400 in 1896. Because of weight of the new train and its cargo the bridge was replaced and, in 1897, the first train crossed the new iron bridge.

Source:
Allen, Richard Sanders. Rare Old Covered Bridges of Windsor County, VT, 1962, page 27

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