The 1872 Slaughter House (or Slaughterhouse) Covered Bridge is a wooden covered bridge that carries Slaughterhouse Road across the Dog River in Northfield, in Washington County, Vermont. This Queen post truss bridge is one of five surviving 19th-century bridges in the town, representing one of the highest concentrations of these historic structures in the state. 

Slaughterhouse Road is a dead-end road that once provided access to an eponymous business. The Dog River, a tributary of the Winooski River, flows north, with the village mainly on the east side. The bridge is a single-span Queen post truss design, resting on dry-laid stone abutments. The trusses are 59.5 feet long, with a total width of 14.5 feet, plus a vertical clearance above deck of 9 feet, carrying one lane of traffic. The exterior is clad in vertical board siding, which extends around to the insides of the portals. The siding ends short of the roof, providing an open strip between them. The projecting gable ends are cut in the shape of a reverse ogee.

There are no documents to verify it, but the 8-ton weight limit seems to indicate that the deck has been reinforced by I-beams, likely in the 20th century.

Of the over 500 covered bridges that were built in the state of Vermont, as of 2019, only 104 remain.

Length of largest span:  58.1 feet
Total length:  65.9 feet
Deck width:  11.5 feet
Vertical clearance above deck:  9 feet

Slaughter House Bridge was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on June 13, 1974.

Located at:  N44 10.115   W72 39.277        -        WGCB #45-12-09

Photographed in July of 2019

Photos by Millard Farmer