The Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge Over Connecticut River

The Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that spans the Connecticut River between Cornish, New Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont. It was the longest covered bridge still standing in the United States until the Smolen–Gulf Bridge opened in Ohio in 2008.  The 2008 bridge is ugly.


The bridge is approximately 449 feet (137 m) long and 24 feet (7.3 m) wide. It has a Town lattice type truss. The bridge was originally built in 1866, and rebuilt in 1988. It was designated a National Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 1970.

The bridge is owned and maintained by the State of New Hampshire, and though often associated with Windsor, is in fact part of the town of Cornish, since the defined boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont is at the western high-water mark of the river. When one drives onto the bridge from the Windsor side of the river they are immediately in New Hampshire. The name is a point of contention among locals since many Cornish inhabitants refer to the bridge as the 'Cornish Covered Bridge' (minus 'Windsor') since, they argue, the bridge belongs to Cornish and not Windsor.

The death of Mr. Salinger reminded me of the one time I saw the Cornish, NH covered bridge in person, during my college years.  Went on a driving trip with my parents up the Vermont-New Hampshire state line.  Saw the Quechee Gorge and, as I recall, the Augustus St. Gauden's home and studio on the same trip.  Memories that still come to the fore when I think of Cornish, NH.