Skip to main content

Albany Covered Bridge - New Hampshire

Image
By

 


Located roughly six miles west of Conway along Swift River in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and near the very scenic Kancamagus Highway (NH 112), the Albany Covered Bridge is a popular stop for travelers taking the scenic route. The Albany Covered Bridge is a 120 foot long Paddleford truss covered bridge that was initially built in 1858, but was destroyed by a storm a year later which flooded the Swift River and swept away the new bridge. At that time, builders Almzi Russell and Leandre Morton entered into an agreement with the town of Albany to build a new covered bridge for $1,300, minus the amount previously paid for the original bridge. As a result of the agreement, the covered bridge was quickly rebuilt and has stood the test of time, along with a renovation in 1970. The artfully crafted covered bridge features wide shallow arches and sharply raked facades. In 1981 and 1982, the U.S. Forest Service replaced the wooden floor timbers with a steel floor for added support. Near the covered bridge is a mud sill, which was taken from the bed of the river to support the falsework and scaffolding during the construction of the bridge span.

Today, you can visit the Albany Covered Bridge off of Passaconaway Road if you are heading along NH 112. Some people may see the bridge on the way to the Covered Bridge Campground, other people may be traveling to the bridge to go fishing or get some neat photos of the Swift River and the covered bridge, while others (like myself the day I visited) may be stopping to see the bridge on the way to a further away destination. I visited during the early summer, but I'm told that the Albany Covered Bridge is picturesque in all seasons. If you are visiting the bridge, please be aware that there is a 7' 9" height restriction for vehicles using the bridge and that the bridge is closed to vehicles in the winter (but foot traffic is OK). There are some interpretive storyboards that can be seen around the bridge as well that will help tell the story of the bridge's construction. I was compelled to stop by and see the Albany Covered Bridge during a trip to New Hampshire and Maine in June 2013, and it was worth the stop.

View of the Swift River as seen from the Albany Covered Bridge.

And here's a couple views of the Albany Covered Bridge from the Swift River.


Side angle views of the Albany Covered Bridge.


The Swift River. This view must be an absolute gem during fall foliage season.

Approaching the Albany Covered Bridge.

The Swift River is a New Hampshire Protected River. The New Hampshire Protected Rivers are a part of the New Hampshire Rivers Management and Protection Program, which is designed to protect significant river resources through a combination of state and local resource management and protection.

A timber barrier has been set up to discourage drivers of oversized vehicles from driving across the Albany Covered Bridge




How to Get There:




Sources and Links:
NHTourGuide.com - Albany Covered Bridge (Kancamagus Highway Region)
USDA / White Mountain National Forest - Albany Covered Bridge
New Hampshire Covered Bridges - Albany Bridge
Bridgehunter.com - Albany Covered Bridge 29-02-06
Scenic USA - Albany Covered Bridge
KancamagusHighway.com - White Mountain National Forest Bridge (Aka Albany Covered Bridge)
Labels:
Location: Albany Covered Bridge, Passaconaway Rd, Albany, NH 03818, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

By
The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...
3 comments
Read more

Hawaii Route 50

By
Hawaii Route 50 is the longest Sign Route on the island of Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The entirety of Hawaii Route 50 is overlaid atop Kaumualii Highway from Lihue west to the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands. Hawaii Route 50 is one of the original 1955-era State Highway designations on Kauai.  Much of the Kaumualii Highway corridor was constructed during the sugar plantation boom of the late Hawaiian Kingdom.  The first tee beam bridge in Hawaii would be constructed along the Kaumualii Highway in 1911 at the Hanapepe.  Much of this highway would be modernized to two-lane standards through the 1930s and 1940s. This page is part of the Gribblenation Hawaii Roads series.  A compellation of all Hawaii-related media from both Gribblenation and RoadwayWiz can be found by clicking  here .  Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 50 and Kaumualii Highway Hawaii Route 50 is the longest highway on Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The highway begins at Rice Str...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

By
A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida.  One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region.  For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate.  Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century.  Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area.  The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...
4 comments
Read more