Skip to main content

Mount Orne Covered Bridge - New Hampshire and Vermont

 



The Mount Orne Covered Bridge is a 266 foot long covered bridge spanning over the Connecticut River, connecting Lancaster, New Hampshire with Lunenburg, Vermont. The bridge is listed in the World Guide of Covered Bridges, Numbers 45-05-03 / 29-04-08, and is also New Hampshire Covered Bridge #30 in New Hampshire's inventory of covered bridges. Replacing a toll bridge that was destroyed by a log jam in 1908, the Mount Orne Covered Bridge was built in 1911 using a Howe through truss design. The towns of Lancaster and Lunenburg each contributed $2,500 towards the construction of the covered bridge, with the remaining $1,678 of the cost having been raised by subscription. The pine timber that was used for the bridge was precut and was assembled on site.

As is the case with many covered bridges, the Mount Orne Covered Bridge has taken a beating towards its longevity over the years. In 1969, a truck loaded with salt dropped through the bridge deck and landed on the ice below. The front of the truck became hooked on one of the bridge's steel rods while the truck's rear rested on the ice. The salt from the truck spilled onto the ice and threatened to melt the ice that held the salt truck from breaking through. The truck was raised, was disengaged from the bridge, and lowered to the ice. The truck was quickly dragged away from the area weakened by the salt, was turned upright and was loaded onto a flatbed on the Vermont side of the river. Additional damage to the covered bridge by tractor trailers took place in 2006, 2010 and 2012.

The covered bridge was closed on July 5, 1983 for twelve weeks for rehabilitation at a cost of $133,000. Funding came from the towns of Lancaster and Lunenburg, the states of New Hampshire and Vermont, along with matching grant a federal Historic Preservation Fund matching grant from the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior through the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. The bridge was rededicated on November 23, 1983. The Mount Orne Covered Bridge is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Inside the covered bridge.

A view of the Connecticut River on a nice spring day.

A view of the eastern bridge portal on the New Hampshire side of the bridge.

Side profile of the covered bridge.

Coming up towards the covered bridge on NH 135.


How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
New Hampshire Bridges - Mt. Orne Bridge
Vermont Covered Bridge Society - The Mount Orne Covered Bridge
Bridgehunter.com - Mt. Orne Covered Bridge 45-05-03 / 29-04-08
NH Tour Guide - Mt. Orne Covered Bridge Lancaster NH and Lunenburg VT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield.  Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away.  In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south.  Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center.  Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat.  The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area.  In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the s...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...

The mystery of Hawaii Route 144 and temporary Hawaii Route 11

The 1959 Gousha Road map of Hawaii features two largely unknown references in the form of Hawaii Route 144 and Temporary Hawaii Route 11.  Both corridors are shown running from the boundary of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park east to Glenwood via Volcano Village.  At the time Hawaii Route 11 was using the so-called "Volcano Road" which was constructed as a modernization of Mamalahoa Highway during 1927-1928.  This blog will examine the two map references and will attempt to determine what they might indicate.  The mystery of Hawaii Route 144 and Temporary Hawaii Route 11 Hawaii Route 11 is part of Mamalahoa Highway (the Hawaii Belt Road) and is the longest Hawaiian State Route at 121.97 miles.  The highway begins at the mutual junction of Hawaii Route 19 and Hawaii Route 190 in Kailua-Kona.  From Kailua-Kona the routing of Hawaii Route 11 crosses the volcanic landscapes of southern side of the Big Island.  Hawaii Route 11 terminates at Hawaii Route 19/Ka...