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Green River, Windham County

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Inventory Number: VT/45-13-04
County: Windham County
Township: Guilford
Town/Village: Green River
Bridge Name: Green River
Crosses: Green River
Truss type: Town
Spans: 1
Length: 104'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1873
Builder: Marcus Worden
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N42 46.529
Longitude: W072 40.033
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 1.4 miles south of jct I-91 (Exit 1) on US5, then 4.6 miles right on Guilford Center Rd., 2.5 miles right on Jacksonville Stage Rd. and 0.1 miles left. At Green River.

Green River Bridge, Guilford, Windham County, VT Built 1870
Bill Caswell Photo, April 21, 2014

Green River Bridge, Guilford, Windham County, VT Built 1870
Jim & Gloria Smedley Photo, April 2012

Green River Bridge, Guilford, Windham County, VT Built 1870
Bill Caswell Photo

Green River Bridge, Guilford, Windham County, VT Built 1870
Richard E. Roy Collection

Green River Bridge, Guilford, Windham County, VT Built 1870
Bill Caswell Photo, April 21, 2014

Comments:
This bridge was built to replace a structure lost in the 1869 flood. For a few years, the road crossed on a temporary, crib-supported structure until the town could finance the new bridge. Per the Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro), January 31, 1873, "The prospect now is that the people of Green River will have a good bridge at that place. The job of building the abutments is let to M. H. Day of Chesterfield, N. H., and the building of a covered bridge to Marcus Worden of Guilford." Per the Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro), December 20, 1878, "Guilford. --- The freshet of the 10th inst., damaged one of the abutments of the bridge at Green River." There seems to be a difference of opinion about who built the bridge. The Brattleboro Daily Reformer of December 9, 1914 announced the death of Leonard J. Timson, 94, of Williamsville who “built the long covered bridge that crosses Green river ….David Worden, 74, of this place assisted him in his work." It is possible that the bridge lost in 1869 was a covered bridge, but that is not yet certain. In 2014 the bridge underwent repairs to the wing walls and abutments. During this work further issues were discovered. Those were addressed by Wright Construction Company in the summer of 2016. The repairs included straightening the structure, a new floor deck, replacement of some floor beams, replacement of one piece of lower chord, two sister lattice installations and some other minor structural repairs. Also, a new standing seam roof was installed to replace the existing asphalt shingle roof. The Green River Timber Crib Dam adjacent to the bridge was built in the early 1800's and pre-dates the bridge by almost 60 years. Both the dam and the bridge are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sources:
The Brattleboro Daily Reformer, December 9, 1914.
Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro), December 20, 1878.
Vermont Phoenix (Brattleboro), January 31, 1873.
Allen, Richard S. & Morse Victor. Windham County's Famous Covered Bridges, 1960, page 14
Evans, Benjamin D. & June R.. New England's Covered Bridges, 2004, Pages 294-295
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 150

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