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Fields or Severns, Hillsborough County

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Inventory Number: NH/29-06-04x
State of New Hampshire Number: 54
County: Hillsborough County
Township: Merrimack
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Fields or Severns
Crosses: Souhegan River
Truss type: Town
Spans: 1
Length: 128'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1859
Builder: James White
When Lost: 08 Jun 1967
Cause: Arson
Latitude: N42 50.20
Longitude: W071 33.65
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 4 miles southeast of Amherst on County Road.

Fields or Severn Bridge, Merrimack, Hillsborough County, NH Built 1859 Arson 8 Jun 1967
Richard E. Roy Collection

Fields or Severn Bridge, Merrimack, Hillsborough County, NH Built 1859 Arson 8 Jun 1967
William Maxant Photo, August 4, 1940, Harvard (MA) Historical Society

Fields or Severn Bridge, Merrimack, Hillsborough County, NH Built 1859 Arson 8 Jun 1967
Raymond Brainerd Photo, October 8, 1949, NSPCB Archives

Comments:
The Fields Bridge may have been built by the town of Amherst, and in 1776, it was voted to pay for half of the rebuilding. It was rebuilt or repaired many times until 1802, when a new one was built for $701.87. It wasn’t until 1859 that the “covered bridge” was built by James White. It was 116 feet long and 16 feet wide. The design was a single lattice truss, patented by Ithiel Town in 1820. This bridge connected Merrimack to Amherst, although one Merrimack home was built on the other side. This farm was originally owned by Henry Fields, then by several generations of the Fields family, and later the Severns family (also spelled Seaverns) and is called “Hickory Hollow.” For many years, Amherst and Merrimack paid half the maintenance of the bridge. The town line does not follow the river but follows a straight line. On June 7, 1967, the Fields Bridge was burned by arsonists.

Sources:
Nashua Telegraph, September 9, 2013.
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXXIX, No. 2, Spring 1981, page 14
Knoblock, Glenn A.. New Hampshire Covered Bridges, 2002, page 107

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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