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Cambridge Village or Museum, Chittenden 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: VT/45-04-06
County: Chittenden County
Township: Shelburne
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Cambridge Village or Museum
Crosses: Burr Pond
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 163'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1845 (M1951)
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N44 22.616
Longitude: W073 13.774
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 5.1 miles south of jct I-189 (7 South exit) on west side of US7 at staff entrance to Shelburne Museum.

Cambridge Village or Museum Bridge, Shelburne, Chittenden County, VT Built 1845 (M1951)
Bill Caswell Photo (1987)

Cambridge Village or Museum Bridge, Shelburne, Chittenden County, VT Built 1845 (M1951)
Bill Caswell Photo, September 26, 2009

Cambridge Village or Museum Bridge, Shelburne, Chittenden County, VT Built 1845 (M1951)
C. Ernest Walker Photo, Todd Clark Collection

Comments:
Double-barrel. Formerly VT/45-08-49. 15-panel truss. When originally constructed by Farewell Wetherly at Cambridge, Vermont in Lamoille County, the bridge’s trusses were assembled in a field owned by the Gates family close to the original site. The bridge was erected over the river the following winter on false work supported by ice. The footbridge was attached at a later date. Windows were added sometime after 1927. In 1950 the state bypassed the bridge with a new span of concrete and steel and it was donated to the Shelburne Museum. It was dismantled and moved to its present location at the old entrance of the Shelburne Museum in 1951. The museum dug Burr pond which the bridge now stands over to make the restoration complete. It served as the museum's main entrance until the early 1970's when the threat of traffic stresses dictated a new entrance be constructed on the hill to the south. According to sign at the US 7 entrance, the bridge is still used by the museum employees to get to and from work. One of only two double-barreled bridges in Vermont. Access to the interior of the bridge is on the museum grounds and there is an admission fee. In 1998 it was re roofed with new cedar shingles.

Source:
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 141

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