Kenyon Bridge

The Kenyon Bridge, also known as the Blacksmith Shop Bridge, is a historic covered bridge spanning Mill Brook near Town House Road in Cornish, New Hampshire, United States. Built in 1882, it is one of New Hampshire's few surviving 19th-century covered bridges. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.^[1]

Kenyon Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Off NH 12A at Mill Brook and Town House Rd., Cornish City, New Hampshire
Coordinates	43°27′47″N 72°21′12″W
Area	0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
Built	1882 (1882)
Architect	Tasker, James
Architectural style	Multiple Kingpost Truss
NRHP reference No.	78000223[1]
Added to NRHP	May 22, 1978

Description and history

The Kenyon Bridge is located in a wooded rural setting, a short way east of Town House Road about 0.3 miles (0.48 km) south of its junction with Center Road. It spans Mill Brook in a roughly east-west orientation. It is 96 feet (29 m) long and 14.5 feet (4.4 m) wide, with a roadbed 90 feet (27 m) long and 13 feet (4.0 m) wide. The bridge rests on dry-laid stone abutments. The bridge's multiple kingpost trusses are sheltered by a sheet metal roof, with vertical plank siding covering the lower 1/3 of the trusses. Each truss consists of 28 panel sections between 29 posts.^[2]

The bridge was built in 1882 by James Frederick Tasker (1826–1903), a local builder well known for his bridges. Its historic name, Blacksmith Shop Bridge, derives from a shop nearby owned by blacksmith John Fellows.^[2] It underwent a major rehabilitation in 1963. It is now closed to vehicular traffic, but open to pedestrians. On Town House Rd, at the approximate DD coordinates of 43.463, -72.3539, a sign for Covered Bridge No. 21 marks this bridge.^[3]

Images

• Structural design of the Kenyon Bridge
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  (image 1 of 14)
  2003
  Detail: eastern abutment, east-northeast 60° (HAER)
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  (image 2 of 14)
  2003
  Detail: midspan, south panel (HAER)
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  (image 3 of 14)
  2003
  Framing detail: north panel (HAER)
• 
  (image 4 of 14)
  2003
  Downstream elevation, looking north (HAER)
• 
  (image 5 of 14)
  2003
  End post detail: west end (HAER)
• 
  (image 6 of 14)
  2003
  Interior view from the west (HAER)
• 
  (image 7 of 14)
  2003
  Interior view, east portal, looking east (HAER)
• 
  (image 8 of 14)
  2003
  Interior view, looking west (HAER)
• 
  (image 9 of 14)
  2003
  (HAER)
• 
  (image 10 of 14)
  2003
  Perspective showing roadway from the west, looking east (HAER)
• 
  (image 11 of 14)
  2003
  Perspective, northwest by 295° (HAER)
• 
  (image 12 of 14)
  2003
  Portal, east elevation (HAER)
• 
  (image 13 of 14)
  2003
  Portal, west elevation, bearing due east (HAER)
• 
  (image 14 of 14)
  2003
  Upstream elevation, bearing southwest 215° (HAER)

See also

• New Hampshire portal

Other covered bridges in Cornish

• Blow-Me-Down Covered Bridge
• Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge
• Dingleton Hill Covered Bridge

Covered bridges in nearby West Windsor, Vermont

• Best's Covered Bridge
• Bowers Covered Bridge

Other bridges elsewhere

• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in New Hampshire
• List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire
• List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Vermont
• List of covered bridges in Vermont
• List of crossings of the Connecticut River
• List of New Hampshire covered bridges
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Sullivan County, New Hampshire