The Smith Millenium Covered Bridge.  According to W. Edward White in his book Covered Bridges of New Hampshire, Captain Charles Richardson built the first covered bridge at this site before 1786 and completed it with the aid of a lottery authorized in that year.

The current bridge, named after local farmer Jacob Smith, was built in 1850 when James McQueston hired Herman Marcy of Littleton, N.H. to frame, raise, and finish a covered bridge across the Baker River for the Town of Plymouth in Grafton County. The bridge cost about $2700 and was known as Smith Bridge, using a pre-stressed wooden truss patented by Col. Stephen Harriman Long 91784-1864) of Hopkinton, N.H. This was the same plan and style as the bridge located on Pont Fayette. Pont Fayette or Fayette Bridge was a structure that spanned the Pemigewasset River between Plymouth and Holderness from 1804 until 1934.

The Smith Bridge was repaired in 1940, 1949, and 1958. It was rehabilitated in 1971 at a cost of $7,876. A telltale (height barrier) was erected to protect the bridge. Signs on the bridge include, "One Lane Bridge," "One Car at a Time on Bridge" and "Speed Limit 15 MPH." The Smith Bridge was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The 143-year-old Smith Bridge was destroyed by fire on April 16, 1993. The town of Plymouth expressed its intention to replace the structure with another covered bridge. The current bridge was built with glue-laminated timbers and arches at a cost of $3.3 million and was dedicated in 2001. The new span was designed to bear the same loads as interstate highway bridges.

Of the 400 covered bridges that once stood in the state of New Hampshire, as of 2019 only 54 remain.

Located at:  N43 46.517    W71 44.342     -     WGCB #29-05-10 #2

Photographed in July of 2019.