Skip to main content

Coombs Covered Bridge - New Hampshire


 
Built in 1837, the Coombs Covered Bridge is a 107-foot-long covered bridge built in a Town lattice truss design, featuring a low clearance of 8 feet, 3 inches in height. The bridge spans across the Ashuelot River and is located on Old Westport Road in Winchester, New Hampshire, and is named for Anthony Coombs, Jr., who was a farmer who had a home in the local area. Whether Coombs was the original builder of the bridge or if the town decided that a covered bridge was needed at that location is unclear after a couple of centuries, one of the many historical notes that have been lost to time. However, this did not stop the Coombs Covered Bridge from becoming listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The covered bridge features stone abutments that are not secured with mortar or concrete, with the stones stacked atop each other. In 1984, the State of New Hampshire had plans to bypass the Coombs Covered Bridge, but instead of building a new bridge, the decision was later made to rehabilitate the bridge, just like what had been done previously in 1971. In 1997 and 1998, the bridge was rehabilitated by 3G Construction, which is owned by Stan Graton II, part of a family that specializes in covered bridge restoration. Today, you can drive across the Coombs Covered Bridge and take in the quiet surroundings. You can also combine visiting the Coombs Covered Bridge with seeing a number of other covered bridges nearby in places such as Ashuelot or Swanzey.




How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
NH Granite State Ambassadors - NH Covered Bridges
Monadnock Region - Covered Bridges in the Monadnock Region
The Pennsylvania Rambler - Coombs Covered Bridge
Stan Graton II 3G Construction - Coombs Covered Bridge, Winchester NH
DaleJTravis.com - New Hampshire Covered Bridges List

Return to: Gribblenation / Covered Bridge Adventures

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bleriot Ferry - Alberta

  Alberta operates six ferries scattered throughout the province. Roughly twenty to twenty-five kilometers up the Red Deer River from the town of Drumheller is one of the most scenic ferry crossings in all of Wild Rose Country, the Bleriot Ferry. Using the North Dinosaur Trail (Alberta Highway 838, or AB 838), the Bleriot Ferry provides a scenic river cruise of sorts in the Canadian Badlands. The Bleriot Ferry started operating in 1913 as the Munson Ferry when a few bridges crossed the Red Deer River. The ferry was started by Andre Bleriot, the brother of famed early aviator Louis Bleriot, who became famous for being the first person to fly over the English Channel. At the time, the Alberta provincial government commissioned local residents to run the ferries. There were several ferries along the Red Deer River, and not only did they serve as vital transportation links, but they also served as local social hubs, since everyone had to take the ferries to go places. Over time, as the...

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...

I-73/I-74 and NC Future Interstates Year in Review 2024

Welcome to another annual review of progress in constructing North Carolina's New and Future Interstate routes. While 2024 was not too exciting, with no new segments of major routes opening, there was 1 new interstate signing, another proposed new interstate route, and the near opening of a new segment for 2 routes. As tradition, I will start off with a review of what happened with I-73 and I-74 and then move on to the major news of the year about the other new and future routes. Work continued on the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass through the year. The last few months have been hoping for news of its opening before 2025, without luck. Signs of its near completion included the placement of new signs, many with interstate shields uncovered, along the Bypass and intersecting roadways. For example, these went up along US 74 East: Overhead signage at Business 74 exit which contains the future ramp to I-73 North/I-74 West. Signage was also updated heading west on US 74 approaching the unop...