Kingsbury - 1904
The 1904 Kingsbury Covered Bridge, also called the Hyde Covered Bridge, is a wooden covered bridge that carries Kingsbury Road across the Second Branch of the White River in Randolph, Orange County, Vermont. Built in 1904, it is the last documented covered bridge to be built in Vermont during the historic 19th and early 20th century period.
The Kingsbury Covered Bridge is located in southernmost Randolph, just west of Vermont Route 14 on Kingsbury Road, a lightly traveled local road. It is a single-span multiple kingpost truss bridge, with trusses 51 feet long resting on stone abutments. The bridge is 18 feet wide, with a roadway width of 15.5 feet (one lane). Its exterior is sheathed in vertical board siding, and it is covered by a metal roof. There are no windows in the side walls, and the portal ends and interiors are also covered in vertical boards.
The bridge was built by an unknown builder. It is the youngest of the state's historic covered bridges; after this bridge was built, no new covered bridges were built in the state until the 1960s. It was restored in 1980 but closed shortly thereafter due to ice damage. It was repaired again in 1994. The repairs were short-lived as another restoration was completed in 2009.
The gable end of Kingsbury Bridge is marked by a large sign that says "So. Randolph, VT." Kingsbury is alone among the nine area bridges featuring rounded portals. Restored in 1980, it was closed to traffic for a number of years because of ice damage. The damage did not deter a farmer who used the closed bridge for storing his equipment out of the weather. It was reopened in 1994 after reconstruction. Portions of the top and bottom chords, several vertical truss members, and some of the bracing were replaced. A bearing block and some bolster beams were renewed.
The fifty-one-foot multiple-kingpost span stands next to Route 14 and serves an unpaved dead-end road, providing access to fields and meadowland.
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on July 30, 1974.
Located at: N43 52.849 W72 34.920 - WGCB #45-09-02
Photographed in June of 2022