Gates Farm Covered Bridge

Gates Farm Covered Bridge
Bridge in U.S. state of Vermont
Carries	Farm equipment
Crosses	Seymour River
Locale	Cambridge, Vermont
Maintained by	private owner
ID number	VT-08-04
Characteristics
Design	Covered, Burr arch
Material	Wood
Total length	60 ft (18.3 m)
Number of spans	1
History
Constructed by	George W. Holmes
Construction end	1897
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Off VT 15, over Seymour River, Cambridge, Vermont
Coordinates	44°38′47″N 72°52′22″W / 44.64639°N 72.87278°W / 44.64639; -72.87278Coordinates: 44°38′47″N 72°52′22″W / 44.64639°N 72.87278°W / 44.64639; -72.87278
Area	1 acre (0.4 ha)
NRHP Reference #	74000223[1]
Added to NRHP	November 19, 1974[1]

The Gates Farm Covered Bridge is a covered bridge that crosses the Seymour River off State Route 15 in Cambridge, Vermont. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.^[1]

The bridge is of Burr arch design, built by George W. Holmes.

Recent history

The Seymour River originally emptied into the Lamoille River further upstream of where it does currently. A bridge called the Little Covered Bridge crossed the Seymour River close by to where the Cambridge Covered Bridge crossed the Lamoille River, both of them on the same highway (Vermont Route 15). In 1950, the Seymour River's course was changed so that it no longer crossed the highway and instead emptied downstream of the Cambridge Bridge, making the Little Bridge unneeded. In diverting the river, the Gates family farm became separated from its fields by the new course of the river. The Little Bridge was moved to the Gates farm property over the new course of the Seymour River to restore access to the farm's fields. At that time it then became known as the Gates Farm Covered Bridge.^[2] (Incidentally, the Cambridge Covered Bridge was moved and became the Shelburne Museum Covered Bridge).

In 1994, after years of neglect, and with its new location in a flood plain, the bridge suffered deterioration and was removed from its abutments. In 1995 it was restored, in the process, making the interior clearance 18 inches (0.46 m) higher to allow larger farm equipment to pass through.^{[n 1]}

Notes

1. ↑ More information is needed about this restoration.

References