A Short History of the East Fairfield Covered Bridge

by Joseph C. Nelson¹

 

The East Fairfield Bridge is a small queenpost span that crosses Black Creek in the hamlet of East Fairfield. Built in 1865, it once spanned a mill pond created by a dam built to power a grist mill. The mill building foundations can be seen at the south end of the bridge. The dam, sluice, and foundations of a sawmill are visible just upstream. Above the sawmill the old staging area can still be seen next to the creek. Logs were brought here by teams of horses, then rolled into the creek. The logs were pulled into the mill by drag chain. Toward the Bakersfield town line there was a tub factory—where butter tubs, sugar tubs, and watering troughs were made—a fulling mill, tanneries, and a brick works, all of which are gone without a trace.

The town has worked to keep the bridge in use. Repairs were made in the early 1940s and the span was reconstructed in 1967. In the winter of 1973-74, using the ice to support staging, Selectmen Bernard Conner and Francis Howrigan and Howrigan's son Michael did some much needed repair work. The ends of the truss braces supporting the queenposts had decayed and the north side of the bridge needed to be jacked up and strengthened. Truss rods were put through the frame of the bridge to prevent it from spreading. Despite all of the effort, the bridge was closed to traffic in 1987, and its condition deteriorated rapidly. Work on the floor in the early 1990s allowed the bridge to be reopened for foot traffic, but vehicles are blocked from entering by posts barring the portals.