Taftsville Covered Bridge: Third Oldest in Vermont

A few miles east of Woodstock village, where the Ottauquechee River bends through the small settlement of Taftsville, stands a covered bridge built in eighteen thirty-six that is among the oldest in the state. It is the third oldest covered bridge in Vermont and one of the oldest in New England, a structure that survived after three earlier bridges at the same crossing washed away in the river before it was built.

Stephen Taft, for whom the village is named, arrived in the area in the seventeen nineties and established mills along the river. As the settlement grew, a river crossing became essential, and a series of bridges were built and lost to flooding. When floodwater took the third bridge in eighteen twenty-eight, a local builder named Solomon Emmons the Third was contracted to build something more permanent. His covered bridge, completed in eighteen thirty-six at a cost of eighteen hundred dollars, has survived nearly two centuries of use.

The bridge runs almost one hundred ninety feet at floor level, making it the second longest covered bridge in Vermont. Its design is unusual. Unlike most New England covered bridges, which followed patented truss designs that became common after eighteen seventeen, the Taftsville Bridge reflects an older craftsman tradition that some historians believe was influenced by Swiss bridge-building techniques. The result stands apart from its neighbors in a subtle technical sense.

Hurricane Irene, which struck Vermont in August of twenty eleven, flooded and severely damaged the bridge. It was closed for two years of repairs and reopened in September twenty thirteen. It still carries traffic.