1841 West Cornwall Covered Bridge, (an earlier incarnation was known as the Hart Bridge) is a wooden covered lattice truss bridge that carries the Sharon-Goshen Turnpike over the Housatonic River in Litchfield County in the town of Cornwall, Connecticut.

Records indicate that a bridge may have been in place in this location as early as 1762. A previous bridge was destroyed in the flood of 1837 and a new bridge was constructed in 1841. This bridge would also be destroyed and the current bridge would be completed circa 1864. Utilizing the central pier from the previous incarnation, despite the Town lattice being able to withstand the weight and single span, the bridge has two spans. The later addition of queen trusses and supports gives the bridge an unusual appearance. Modernization of the bridge in 1968 and 1973 has continued to let the bridge handle the traffic. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Constructed in 1864, the West Cornwall covered bridge is 172 feet long, 15 feet wide, and supports one lane of vehicle traffic. The bridge's Town lattice truss is constructed of red-spruce timbers secured by treenails and the span is made of native oak. A secondary queen-post truss was added to the bridge at a later date, with one source stating that this was in 1887. The addition of the queen-post truss was likely to stiffen the bridge because wooden trusses have a tendency to sag. Prior to 1946, the bridge had a square port with a flat top, but this was modified to a gable roof which remains today. In 1957, the bridge was painted red for the first time.

For many decades the current West Cornwall bridge was believed to have been constructed in 1841, as a replacement for an earlier bridge that washed away in the flood of 1837. The 1841 date was even included on the National Register of Historic Places nomination and was claimed to have been supervised by Ithiel Town.

The bridge consists of two spans, 64.1 feet, and 81.10 feet, with a 3.2 feet gap between them. The combined trussed portions of the bridge are 149.1 feet long. The bridge's Town lattice is an unusual design choice, but the later addition of the queen trusses is also unusual, resulting in a unique visual appearance of the bridge's unequal spans. This gives the appearance of kingposts within the queen posts. Since the addition of the steel I-beam flooring in 1973, the trusses have supported nothing but themselves.

The West Cornwall covered bridge is very significant and important as one of only three surviving covered bridges in the state of Connecticut. The bridge's modification from the original Town lattice represents a unique design that is not repeated in either Comstock's Bridge or Bull's Bridge. The covered bridge is perhaps best known for being featured on postcards of New England villages. The bridge appeared in the opening scenes of the movie, 'Valley of the Dolls' a 1967 American drama.

Posted to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.  

Located at:  N41 52.294   W73 21.827    -    WGCB #07-03-02

Photographed in August of 2019.