Hancock - Greenfield Covered Bridge , New Hampshire - Photo Friday

 This covered bridge was photographed over the Contoocook River between Greenfield and Hancock, New Hampshire.  

While we were out in the little red convertible this fall, toodling around the Monadnock Region to see the foliage colors and to visit a burial ground in Hancock, we came across this little covered bridge.  I remembered it from my childhood when we used to go camping almost every summer at the Greenfield State park.  

Every covered bridge in New Hampshire is numbered. There are officially 54 wooden covered bridges in New Hampshire, and this bridge is #8 on the state list, called the County Bridge or the Hancock-Greenfield Bridge.  It dates from 1937, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.  The original covered bridge was built in 1852, but was damaged in the 1936 floods which took out many of the bridges across New England.  Car traffic is allowed on this bridge. 

My Emerson ancestors lived in Hancock, but they never saw either covered bridge over the Contoocook River. The last Emersons in my lineage both died in Hancock in 1809, and their children all moved away. 

The Contoocook River is not very long (only 71 miles), but it has four covered bridges: The Contoocook Railroad Bridge (1849 - 1850), Rowell's Bridge in West Hopkinton (1853), this bridge above, and the New England College Bridge (1972) on the campus of New England College in Henniker for pedestrians only.  

The oldest covered bridge in New Hampshire is the Bath-Haverhill Bridge built in 1827.  It carries only foot traffic.  There were two bridges built in 1832, another one in Bath, and one in West Swanzey called the Thompson Bridge (both carry foot and car traffic).  

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To Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Hancock - Greenfield Covered Bridge , New Hampshire - Photo Friday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 29, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/01/hancock-greenfield-covered-bridge-new.html: accessed [access date]). 

Photo Friday ~ Seen at the Vermont Country Store

Another Kissing Bridge

Vermont Country Store website http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/store

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Weathervane Wednesday - An Eagle

I've been collecting photographs of the many, many weather vanes in the Nutfield area (Derry and Londonderry, New Hampshire).  If you want a challenge, I'll post the locations at the bottom of the page so you can scroll down far enough to see the photo, but not the location, and try to guess where you may have seen these lovely weathervanes.

Do you know the location of weather vane #20?

Usually eagles are seen on top of government and civic building weather vanes.  This flying eagle weather vane is located at Schaefer Mortgage at 5 Buttrick Road, in Londonderry.  It is one of the few businesses in Londonderry to have a weather vane on its roof.  It is also the site of the only covered bridge in Londonderry, and is labeled "Nutfield Crossing".  It is a pedestrian bridge that connects the two parking lots.  Their business website is http://www.schaefermortgage.com  

Click here to see the other weather vanes in this series

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Covered Bridge in Chester, NH

Wason Pond Covered Bridge, Chester, New Hampshire

Last Sunday, on July 31, 2011, a timber framed covered bridge was built by volunteers at the Wason Pond recreation area in Chester, New Hampshire.  It is based on an 1850s style traditional New England covered bridge.  Dozens of community members helped to raise the trusses, lay the siding, flooring and nail roof shingles. There was a large crew of volunteers available to feed the workers, too, with breakfasts, turkeys, and a pig roast.  The new bridge should last for centuries, which was the intention of the committee.  The entire process took months, but over this week most of the building was erected and completed.  Many hands make light work!

From WMUR, our local TV station, a photo slide show of the Chester bridge project http://www.wmur.com/news/28727547/detail.html

The Timber Framer’s Guild page for the Chester, NH covered bridge project http://tfguild.org/Wason.html

A blog post about the Wason Pond bridge at the Bridgewright Blog http://bridgewright.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/an-ongoing-adventure-at-wason-pond/

The Wason Pond Recreation area, from the Chester, NH town website http://www.chesternh.org/wason_pond.htm

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Not So Wordless Wednesday - Kissing Bridges

In New England covered bridges are known as “kissing bridges.” You can speculate why they were popular places to request, or to steal, a smooch or two. I suppose that in the old days, a young man would pause his courting buggy in the privacy of a covered bridge to see what would happen next. The tradition lives on.

There is only one covered bridge in Londonderry and one in Derry, New Hampshire, and both are pedestrian bridges only. We have a few winter photos of some kissing bridges to post here....


My daughter (age 3) and Hubby, 1990
Jackson, New Hampshire

My daughter and I, in 2000
Derry, New Hampshire

Hubby and I, 2006
Jackson, New Hampshire

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Copryight 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo