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East Fairfield, Franklin County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

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Inventory Number: VT/45-06-03
County: Franklin County
Township: Fairfield
Town/Village: East Fairfield
Bridge Name: East Fairfield
Crosses: Black Creek
Truss type: Queen
Spans: 1
Length: 67'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1865
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N44 47.164
Longitude: W072 51.744
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 3.2 miles west of jct VT108 on VT36, then 220 feet left on Bridge St. West edge of East Fairfield.

East Fairfield Bridge, Fairfield, Franklin County, VT Built 1865
Bill Caswell Photo (1987)

East Fairfield Bridge, Fairfield, Franklin County, VT Built 1865
Philippe Bonnet Photo, May 30, 1964, NSPCB Archives

East Fairfield Bridge, Fairfield, Franklin County, VT Built 1865
Bill Caswell Photo, September 29, 2013

East Fairfield Bridge, Fairfield, Franklin County, VT Built 1865
Bob Watts Photo, September 2020

East Fairfield Bridge, Fairfield, Franklin County, VT Built 1865
Todd Clark Collection

Comments:
Per the St. Albans Daily Messenger, June 10, 1873, "A fine covered bridge has just been completed across the creek in this village which is another very substantial improvement being both useful to the public and ornamental to the village." The East Fairfield Bridge once spanned a mill pond created by a dam built to power a grist mill. The mill building foundations can be seen at the south end of the bridge. The dam, sluice, and foundations of a sawmill are visible just upstream. Repairs were made in the early 1940s and the span was reconstructed in 1967. In the winter of 1973-74, more repairs were made using the ice to support staging, Despite all of the effort, the bridge was closed to traffic in 1987, and its condition deteriorated rapidly. Work on the floor in the early 1990s allowed the bridge to be reopened for foot traffic, but vehicles are blocked from entering by posts barring the portals. The bridge was repaired in 2009 and re-opened to vehicle traffic.

Sources:
St. Albans Daily Messenger, June 10, 1873.
Conwill, Joseph D.. Images of America - Vermont Covered Bridges, 2004, page 105
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 141

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