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Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

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Bull's, Litchfield 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: CT/07-03-01
County: Litchfield County
Township: Kent
Town/Village: Bulls Bridge
Bridge Name: Bull's
Crosses: Housatonic River
Truss type: Town, Queen & King
Spans: 1+
Length: 109'
Roadway Width: 12'
Built: 1842
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N41 40.544
Longitude: W073 30.557
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 2.7 miles north of jct CT55 on US7, then 0.1 miles left on Bulls Bridge Rd.

Bull's Bridge, Kent, Litchfield County, CT Built 1842
Bill Caswell Photo

Bull's Bridge, Kent, Litchfield County, CT Built 1842
Richard Donovan Collection

Bull's Bridge, Kent, Litchfield County, CT Built 1842
Bill Caswell Photo, February 4, 2016

Bull's Bridge, Kent, Litchfield County, CT Built 1842
Jenn Caswell Photo, February 4, 2016

Comments:
This bridge was named after Jacob Bull of Dover Plains, NY, who built the first bridge at this site in the 1770's. The original bridge was primarily built to aid in transporting iron from the furnaces in the Kent area to the Hudson River. It cost $3000 to build and was originally a toll bridge. There have been stories over the years that the covered bridge was built in 1778 and was crossed by George Washington in 1781. Although Washington visited the area, and could have passed over Bull's Bridge, it would have been an earlier bridge at this location since the Town truss used in this bridge was not developed until 1820. When the main dam of the Connecticut Light and Power Company was built in 1901-03, the bridge had to be raised 20' to remain clear of the water. It was restored in 1949 to remove a noticeable sag and replace split and rotted bottom chords.

Sources:
DeVito, Michael C.. Connecticut's Old Timbered Crossings, 1964, pages 17-18
Caswell, William S. Jr.. Images of America - Connecticut & Rhode Island Covered Bridges, 2011, Pages 15, 23-25
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 5

The images in this collection may be protected under copyright law and may only be used for educational, teaching, and research purposes.
If the intended use is beyond these purposes, it is the responsibility of the user to obtain the appropriate permissions from the owner stated in the image's credits.