Honeymoon - 1876
The Honeymoon Bridge (also known as Covered Bridge No. 51) is a wooden covered bridge over the Ellis River in Jackson, New Hampshire, United States.
In 1873, town residents debated whether to build and/or repair at least two bridges that crossed the Wildcat River. Honeymoon Bridge was built in 1876, just south of the confluence of the Wildcat with the Ellis River, by Charles Austin Broughton and his son Frank. The Broughton family owned a dairy farm on the east side of the Saco River. Serving in the Civil War, Charles had the carpentry skills needed to do the work. In 1899, the town of Jackson paid the Goodrich Falls Electric Company $8 to illuminate the bridge. The sidewalk on the side of the bridge was added in 1930 according to town records, and improvements were made in 1965 to improve visibility and provide parking. In 2001 the bridge received a US$64,000 grant that provided for the installation of a fire protection system that included sprinklers, among other things. Further rehabilitation of the bridge was completed three years later. Today, the Honeymoon Bridge is an often-photographed tourist attraction.
The Honeymoon Bridge is one of 20 examples of the Paddleford truss design.
The Ellis River drains the southeastern flank of the Presidential Range and joins the Saco River near Glen, New Hampshire. Near the village of Jackson, the East Branch of the Ellis River, also known as the Wildcat River, hastens the Ellis on its journey. Even as late as 1894, about one-half of the Town of Jackson was virgin forest. During the nineteenth century, the combination of the mountains, the forest and its hunting potential, and the Wildcat River's picturesque Jackson Falls offered escape and relief for an increasingly industrialized northeast. The first purpose-built hotel in Jackson opened in 1858.
Despite its increasing prosperity, the town records are not entirely clear when the Ellis River was first crossed or even when the current covered bridge was built. The crossing probably dates to some time after the town's incorporation in 1800 because there was access to the village from the southeast that did not require crossing the Ellis.
The data and construction history of the bridge is unclear. Noted bridge historian Richard Sanders Allen attributes the bridge to Charles Austin Broughton and dated it ca. 1876 (revised to 1876). In an unpublished collection of interviews and memoirs, long-time Jackson resident Adelbert Fernald reports that the bridge was "constructed about the time the Maine Central Railroad was run through Crawford Notch by their engineer in 1870." Broughton's descendants, however, firmly assert that he never worked for the Maine Central, but was a finish carpenter and a lumber company agent who built bridges "on the side." In October 1873 town residents discussed whether to build and/or repair at least two bridges, although the new bridge was clearly across the Wildcat and not the Ellis. Three years later, the town continued discussing the idea of a new bridge across the Wildcat. These discussions make it clear that the town's clerk(s) recorded bridge discussions in the mid-1870s. Further research in the town records may help clarify the uncertainty surrounding the 1876 date.
The post-construction history of the bridge is a little clearer. In 1899, the town paid for "light in bridge" - which suggests a bridge with an "inside." While it is not clear when the covered bridge became part of the state highway system, Route 16, of which the bridge is a spur, became part of the state system about 1913. There are vague suggestions that the bridge was widened at some point, but the seemingly intact upper lateral bracing system and the absence of evidence that the granite abutments were widened reinforces the view that it was not. The date of the arches is unknown.
Joseph Conwill has suggested that the name "Honeymoon Bridge" could have its origins in a 1936 essay written by early bridge historian Adelbert M. Jakeman. Jakeman described fond memories of time spent on the bridge with his wife during their honeymoon. "It might well be named Honeymoon Bridge," he wrote. To date, no earlier reference to the bridge as the "Honeymoon Bridge" has surfaced.
The bridge, a regular stop for bus tours, is often described as one of the most photographed covered bridges in New Hampshire.
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 103 ft.; total length: 121.1 ft.; deck width: 15.7 ft.; vertical clearance above deck: 9.5 ft.
Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
Located at: N44 08.497 W71 11.183 - WGCB #29-02-01
Photographed in June 2022