Green River Pumping Station Bridge (Eunice Williams Covered Bridge)
Franklin County, Greenfield. Built 1870s, rebuilt 1972, 94 ft. long. Named for a captive killed nearby in 1704, and tied to a local ghost legend.
The Green River Pumping Station Bridge is better known locally as the Eunice Williams Covered Bridge, named for a young mother killed near this crossing of the Green River in 1704. Hours after the Deerfield Massacre, Eunice Williams was among the captives being marched north toward Canada; when she collapsed trying to cross the river, her captors — under orders to strike down anyone who couldn't keep pace — killed her within sight of her husband and surviving children. The story has attached itself to the bridge ever since, and locals have long called it the "Screaming Bridge," with tales of unexplained sounds at the crossing after dark.
The original 1870s bridge at this site burned to the ground on Halloween night in 1969 in a fire ruled arson, and it was rebuilt in 1972 on a Howe truss spanning 94 feet, owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Hurricane Irene battered the bridge again in 2011, forcing its closure to foot traffic, but a substantial renovation brought it back for both vehicles and pedestrians in November 2014. It remains one of five surviving covered bridges in Franklin County, and easily its most storied.
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Green River Pumping Station Bridge (Eunice Williams Covered Bridge)