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

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

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area. Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County. The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte. The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom. Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail). La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora. The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Route 75 Tunnel - Ironton, Ohio

In the Ohio River community of Ironton, Ohio, there is a former road tunnel that has a haunted legend to it. This tunnel was formerly numbered OH 75 (hence the name Route 75 Tunnel), which was renumbered as OH 93 due to I-75 being built in the state. Built in 1866, it is 165 feet long and once served as the northern entrance into Ironton, originally for horses and buggies and later for cars. As the tunnel predated the motor vehicle era, it was too narrow for cars to be traveling in both directions. But once US 52 was built in the area, OH 93 was realigned to go around the tunnel instead of through the tunnel, so the tunnel was closed to traffic in 1960. The legend of the haunted tunnel states that since there were so many accidents that took place inside the tunnel's narrow walls, the tunnel was cursed. The haunted legend states that there was an accident between a tanker truck and a school bus coming home after a high school football game on a cold, foggy Halloween night in 1

Gribblenation

Search This Blog