Chester/Charles H. Waterous Bridge
Middlesex County, East Pepperell. Built 1848, rebuilt 1962 and 2010, 108 ft. long. One of only three Massachusetts covered bridges on public roads still open to vehicle traffic.
A covered bridge has carried travelers over the Nashua River at Pepperell since roughly 1740, making this one of the oldest continuously bridged crossings in the state even though the structure itself has been rebuilt more than once. The first true covered bridge at the site lasted from 1847 until 1958, and its successor — dedicated November 4, 1963, and named for Massachusetts state representative Chester H. Waterous — carried traffic until 2008, when it too needed replacement. The current bridge reopened on July 30, 2010, built on a Pratt truss variation and running 108 feet across the river.
The site carries a strong Revolutionary War legend as well: local lore credits Prudence Wright and a company of Pepperell women with guarding the town's bridge and capturing a British spy during the war, a story still retold at local history events. Today the bridge is one of only three covered bridges on public Massachusetts roads still open to vehicle traffic, and the closest one to greater Boston, making it a rare working example of a tradition that mostly survives elsewhere in the state as museum pieces and pedestrian crossings.