About
The Creamery Covered Bridge crosses Whetstone Brook in West Brattleboro, about 1.5 miles west of downtown Brattleboro and just south of Vermont Route 9. It is a Town lattice truss bridge, 80 feet long, built in 1879. It is Brattleboro's only surviving 19th-century covered bridge. It was retired from vehicle traffic in 2010 and is now used by pedestrians. It is also known as the Centerville bridge.
History
The bridge was built in 1879 of spruce lumber. The Vermont Covered Bridge Society records A. H. Wright as the builder. A sidewalk was added along the downstream side around 1920. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 28, 1973. In 2007 Renaud Brothers of Vernon repaired the floor system and lattice truss and installed a fire alarm and a dry sprinkler system. In 2010 a new concrete and steel bridge took over vehicle traffic, and the covered bridge was closed to cars.
Design
The Town lattice truss, patented by Ithiel Town, is a close web of crisscrossed planks. The bridge is 19 feet wide overall, with a 15-foot roadway and a 5.5-foot sidewalk on the downstream side. One abutment is faced in concrete.
Visiting
The bridge is just south of Vermont Route 9 in West Brattleboro, upstream of the newer road bridge. It is closed to vehicles, but a footpath crosses it, and a trail connects it to Living Memorial Park.
Sources: Creamery Covered Bridge (Wikipedia), Creamery Covered Bridge (Vermont Covered Bridge Society), Vermont River Conservancy
Photo: Elaine Stottlar, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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