details

Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

Home

Swiftwater, Grafton 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: NH/29-05-02
State of New Hampshire Number: 29
County: Grafton County
Township: Bath
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Swiftwater
Crosses: Wild Ammonoosuc River
Truss type: Paddleford
Spans: 2
Length: 158'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1849
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N44 08.034
Longitude: W071 57.046
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 2.1 miles southeast of jct US302/NH10 on NH112, then 200 feet left on Porter Rd. At Swiftwater.

Swiftwater Bridge, Bath, Grafton County, NH Built 1849
Richard E. Roy Collection

Swiftwater Bridge, Bath, Grafton County, NH Built 1849
Bill Caswell Photo (1984)

Swiftwater Bridge, Bath, Grafton County, NH Built 1849
Bill Caswell Photo, October 8, 2012

Swiftwater Bridge, Bath, Grafton County, NH Built 1849
Bill Caswell Photo, April 14, 2014

Comments:
20-panel truss. This bridge is the fourth to cross the Wild Ammonoosuc River at this site. The first was built in 1810. It was carried away in 1818 by a flood and replaced in the same year. Again, the bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1828. The third bridge was erected in 1829 and remained at the site until 1849. At that time it was dismantled and replaced by the current bridge. This bridge was rebuilt by the state in 1977 at a cost of $34,347. The rebuilding costs were shared by the state and town. This section of the river was used to float logs to the sawmill. Often log jams presented a hazard to the bridge. In one case, dynamite was used to break up a log jam and although the blast was successful, logs had to be removed from the roof of the bridge. The Swiftwater Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Rebuilt 1989.

Sources:
Marshall, Richard G.. New Hampshire Covered Bridges : A Link With Our Past, 1994, page 55
Knoblock, Glenn A.. New Hampshire Covered Bridges, 2002, page 49
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 47
Chandler, Kim Varney. Covered Bridges of New Hampshire, 2022, Pages 112-115

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.