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Dalton or Joppa Road, Merrimack 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/29-07-05
State of New Hampshire Number: 12
County: Merrimack County
Township: Warner
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Dalton or Joppa Road
Crosses: Warner River
Truss type: See comments
Spans: 1
Length: 77'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1853
Builder: Joshua Sanborn
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N43 16.609
Longitude: W071 48.680
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 1.6 miles east of jct I-89 on NH103 (Exit 9) then 0.1 miles right on West Joppa Rd.

Dalton or Joppa Road Bridge, Warner, Merrimack County, NH Built 1853
Willard Flanders Photo, NSPCB Archives

Dalton or Joppa Road Bridge, Warner, Merrimack County, NH Built 1853
Bill Caswell Photo

Dalton or Joppa Road Bridge, Warner, Merrimack County, NH Built 1853
Trish Kane Photo, July 13, 2008

Dalton or Joppa Road Bridge, Warner, Merrimack County, NH Built 1853
Bill Caswell Photo, March 3, 2014

Dalton or Joppa Road Bridge, Warner, Merrimack County, NH Built 1853
Scott Wagner Photo, October 2015

Comments:
6-panel truss. The Dalton Bridge is also known as the Joppa Road Bridge. It is the only standing covered bridge in New Hampshire to be named after a woman. At a March 1852 town meeting it was voted to “rebuild a good bridge near Mrs. Dalton’s.” There are other references to the bridge near the Widow Dalton’s place. She was Judith Sawyer Dalton (1772-1855), second wife of Isaac Dalton. It was built by Joshua Sanborn. George Sawyer and Webster B. Davis (sometimes erroneously listed as Walter S. Davis) built the abutments. Repairs were made to the bridge in 1871 at a cost of $134.81. In 1990, the state repaired the diagonal and the portal, and installed a new metal roof. There has been some debate as to the classification of the truss system. The Warner Historical Society in its 1974 publication, Warner N.H. 1880-1974, classified the bridge as a Haupt-type truss. The New Hampshire Department of Transportation indicates a classification of multiple Kingpost with an auxiliary queenpost system. The National Register of Historic Places nomination form lists it as a Long truss with an auxiliary queenpost system. The “queenpost” references might be more accurately described as straight timber arches since they extend through the lower chords to the abutments similar to the arches of a Burr truss. There are also suggestions that there may be influences from the design patented by Horace Childs. Research into its design is continuing. This is one of the oldest standing covered bridges in use today. The bridge was rebuilt in 1963-1964. The rebuilding costs were shared by the town and the state. The Dalton Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1976.

Sources:
Marshall, Richard G.. New Hampshire Covered Bridges : A Link With Our Past, 1994, page 23
Knoblock, Glenn A.. New Hampshire Covered Bridges, 2002, page 89
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 51
Chandler, Kim Varney. Covered Bridges of New Hampshire, 2022, Pages 40-43

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