Creamery Bridge, at 140 years old, is a local treasure for both its history and aesthetics. Since Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, the adjacent banks of Whetstone Brook became inundated with knotweed, an exotic invasive plant that spreads rapidly, displaces native vegetation, destabilizes soil, and depletes nutrients in sedimentary leaf litter. The storm helped the plant spread by scouring river banks already infested with knotweed, breaking it into fragments that then rooted in freshly scoured banks downstream. In 2018, Brattleboro Recreation and Parks, with cooperation from an abutting landowner, began restoring the banks of the Whetstone at the Creamery Bridge site. The first phase sought to gain control of the knotweed infestation by judiciously applying a wetlands-approved herbicide. In 2019, after spot treating the remaining knotweed plants, the banks of the brook were to be replanted with native plants better able to provide shade for the brook, stability for the soil, and food for insects and animals, with planning and advisory support from Connecticut River Conservancy and Brattleboro Floral Arts and Garden Club.