Holmes Creek Covered Bridge - Charlotte, Vermont

Located in Charlotte, Vermont, and also known as the Lake Shore Covered Bridge, the Holmes Creek Covered Bridge is one of the Green Mountain State's more unique covered bridges. While many covered bridges in Vermont are nestled on back country roads or around quaint villages, the Holmes Creek Covered Bridge has the distinction of being the only historic covered bridge located within the eyesight of Lake Champlain. In fact, it was such a nice, early November day that I quickly ventured over to the Lake Champlain shore from the covered bridge.

The Holmes Creek Covered Bridge was built in 1870 by Leonard Sherman. The covered bridge is built with a King truss style along with a tied arch, just one of three tied arch covered bridges found in Vermont. The bridge has a few other claims to fame, being one of the shortest covered bridges in New England at 41 feet in length, and the covered bridge in Vermont with the lowest elevation at 112 feet above sea level. It is rumored that the Holmes Creek Covered Bridge was preceded by a bridge built in 1840, but this hasn't been proven in town records. But when the Holmes Creek Covered Bridge was getting ready to be built, the Charlotte town selectmen specified that the bridge's width and height be "a load of hay, high and wide" in order for traffic to pass through.

In 1974, the Holmes Creek Covered Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1993, the covered bridge received extensive renovations courtesy of Milton Graton Associates of New Hampshire. But beyond the covered bridge itself, the area around the bridge also has some juicy historical tidbits. During the late 1800s, the Holmes family (for whom Holmes Creek is named) ran the largest apple orchard in New England, not far from the bridge. In Lake Champlain, there are submerged pilings, which is the last remaining evidence of a pier where fruit from the orchard was loaded onto boats and taken to destinations both far and near.

The south portal of the Holmes Creek Covered Bridge.

Historical plaque.

Inside the covered bridge

North portal of the covered bridge.

Lake Champlain. You can see the Adirondacks of New York State in the distance.

View of the Holmes Creek Covered Bridge from the mouth of the Holmes Creek.

Looking north towards Charlotte Beach, located just north of the covered bridge on Lake Road.

How to Get There:

Sources and Links:
Vermont Covered Bridge Society - The Lake Shore Covered Bridge
Pond Mountain Inn - Holmes Creek Covered Bridge
Traveling for History - Holmes Creek Covered Bridge in Charlotte, Vermont

Comments

Paper Highways: The Unbuilt New Orleans Bypass (Proposed I-410)

There are many examples around the United States of proposed freeway corridors in urban areas that never saw the light of day for one reason or another. They all fall somewhere in between the little-known and the infamous and from the mundane to the spectacular. One of the more obscure and interesting examples of such a project is the short-lived idea to construct a southern beltway for the New Orleans metropolitan area in the 1960s and 70s. Greater New Orleans and its surrounding area grew rapidly in the years after World War II, as suburban sprawl encroached on the historically rural downriver parishes around the city. In response to the development of the region’s Westbank and the emergence of communities in St. Charles and St. John the Baptist Parishes as viable suburban communities during this period, regional planners began to consider concepts for new infrastructure projects to serve this growing population. The idea for a circular freeway around the southern perimeter of t

Hernando de Soto Bridge (Memphis, TN)

The newest of the bridges that span the lower Mississippi River at Memphis, the Hernando de Soto Bridge was completed in 1973 and carries Interstate 40 between downtown Memphis and West Memphis, AR. The bridge’s signature M-shaped superstructure makes it an instantly recognizable landmark in the city and one of the most visually unique bridges on the Mississippi River. As early as 1953, Memphis city planners recommended the construction of a second highway bridge across the Mississippi River to connect the city with West Memphis, AR. The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge had been completed only four years earlier a couple miles downriver from downtown, however it was expected that long-term growth in the metro area would warrant the construction of an additional bridge, the fourth crossing of the Mississippi River to be built at Memphis, in the not-too-distant future. Unlike the previous three Mississippi River bridges to be built the city, the location chosen for this bridge was about two

Huey P. Long Bridge (New Orleans, LA)

Located on the lower Mississippi River a few miles west of New Orleans, the Huey P. Long Bridge is an enormous steel truss bridge that carries both road and rail traffic on an old-time structure that is a fascinating example of a bridge that has evolved in recent years to meet the traffic and safety demands of modern times. While officially located in suburban Jefferson Parish near the unincorporated community of Bridge City, this bridge’s location is most often associated with New Orleans, given that it’s the largest and most recognizable incorporated population center in the nearby vicinity. For this reason, this blog article considers the bridge’s location to be in New Orleans, even though this isn’t 100% geographically correct. Completed in 1935 as the first bridge across the Mississippi River in Louisiana and the first to be built in the New Orleans area, this bridge is one of two bridges on the Mississippi named for Huey P. Long, a Louisiana politician who served as the 40th Gove

Gribblenation

Search This Blog