The 1858 Eagleville Covered Bridge is located at Eagleville in the towns of Jackson and Salem, Washington County, New York. Built by local builder Ephraim Clapp, this 101-foot bridge crosses the Battenkill River and employs the patented Town lattice truss, consisting of top and bottom chords of laminated wood plank, and a web of diagonal wood planks connected by wood trunnels at each point of intersection. The Town truss design was patented by Ithiel Town in 1820.

The Eagleville Covered Bridge is one of four covered bridges still standing in Washington County and is owned and maintained by the county and carries traffic across the Batten Kill. At least two unknown bridges at this crossing pre-date the present one. For the residents of Eagleville, the bridge gave access across the river to Cambridge and Vermont. After 1852, those who wanted to catch a Delaware and Hudson Railroad passenger train, or ship their goods by freight, could travel south to the Cambridge depot or north-west to the Shushan depot.

Despite flood waters, wind, and harsh winters, the bridge has staying power. In March of 1977, high water on the Batten Kill undermined the east abutment, dropping it into the river. The county bridge crew diverted the river, saving the bridge. The bridge took such a twist when it went down, it was feared a great many treenails had sheared and timbers cracked. But Town’s lattice design proved to be resilient and flexible. 

Over the decades, the Eagleville Covered Bridge has been re-sided, re-roofed, and re-painted a number of times. In the 1940s, the Washington County paint scheme was Venetian red with white portal trim. During the 2006-2007 rehabilitation, the bridge was once again returned to the Venetian red color.

On hot summer days, traffic jams and noise threaten the famed tranquility of the Batten Kill as both the Eagleville and Rexleigh Covered Bridges are popular swimming holes. Kicking out a hole in the siding to jump through is a time-honored misuse of the bridge. Inspection doors and ventilation ports have been employed in the past as a nod to jumpers and to reduce destruction. In 2006-2007, the Eagleville Covered Bridge experienced a complete rehabilitation.

At that time, it was determined that there was advanced dry rot at the place where the inspection door was, caused by rain blowing in through the open door. Thus, a wire mesh was installed over the inspection door between the trusses and the siding at both bridges.

On August 4, 2007, Washington County hosted a celebration of the newly rehabilitated Eagleville, Rexleigh, and Buskirk Covered Bridges. Washington County is to be commended for its efforts in preserving its covered bridges.

Eagleville Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 1972.

Located at:  N43 04.993    W73 18.822     -      WGCB #32-58-01

Photographed in May 2023