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Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

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Porter-Parsonsfield, Oxford County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: ME/19-09-05 / ME-16-01
County: Oxford County / York County
Township: Parsonsfield - Porter
Town/Village: Porter
Bridge Name: Porter-Parsonsfield
Crosses: Ossipee River
Truss type: Paddleford & Arch
Spans: 2
Length: 160'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1876
Builder: Jacob H. Berry
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N43 47.454
Longitude: W070 56.282
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 0.3 miles south of jct ME25 and Porter on east side of ME160. On bypassed section of road.

Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Parsonsfield-Porter, Oxford County, ME Built 1876
Harry A. Packard Photo (1964), Richard E. Roy Collection

Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Parsonsfield-Porter, Oxford County, ME Built 1876
Richard E. Roy Collection

Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Parsonsfield-Porter, Oxford County, ME Built 1876
Bill Caswell Photo, July 13, 2015

Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Parsonsfield-Porter, Oxford County, ME Built 1876
Philip Wentzel Photo, June 13, 2000

Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Parsonsfield-Porter, Oxford County, ME Built 1876
Bill Caswell Photo, July 13, 2015

Comments:
11-panel truss. Many heavy repairs and renovations over the years leave little of the original bridge intact. One of the greatest changes was the addition of the laminated arches that were made with twenty pieces of two inch lumber. Cables are attached to the bridge and secured to the shore provide support during flood times. It was closed to traffic in 1960 when the new bridge was built upstream and is currently open to pedestrian traffic only. It is interesting to note that a plaque on the bridge indicates it was built in 1876, but the Maine Department of Transportation web site lists the construction date as 1859. Other records indicate the bridge was built in 1858. The bridge was built by the towns of Porter and Parsonsfield as a joint project and is the only Maine covered bridge that connects two counties. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 16, 1970.

Sources:
Conwill, Joseph D.. Images of America - Maine's Covered Bridges, 2003, page 91 & 92
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 36

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