This site was once a major crossing on the Walloomsac River, carrying traffic between southwestern Vermont and New York State until the railroad was built in 1852, with troops marching from Manchester, Vermont, to the Battle of Bennington in 1777 and teams and stages transporting freight and passengers. The original Henry Covered Bridge was built about 1840. In the 1860s and 1870s, heavy wagon loads of iron ore crossed the bridge from the Burden Iron Company mine on Orebed Road to its washing works on Paran Creek in North Bennington. A succession of water-powered mills stood next to the bridge on the south side, the last a grist mill operated into the 1920s by Bertine T. Henry, a descendant of the Irish-born William Henry (1734-1811). The bridge is supported by Town lattice trusses, a design patented in 1820 by Connecticut architect Ithiel Town that marked a major technological advance over earlier king post, queen post, and Burr truss styles by allowing carpenters to assemble a lighter, stronger web-like truss from mill-sawn planks and wooden trunnels. Covered bridges protected their structural skeleton from moisture, helping preserve them. The present bridge, built in 1989 by the State of Vermont, Agency of Transportation, is a replica replacing the deteriorating original.

Photo: Barry Swackhamer

Photo: Barry Swackhamer

North Bennington, Vermont · USA