Swift River Covered Bridge

The first bridge on this site was built by John Douglass in 1850. It gave much needed access to the north using West Side Road and served local commerce well until the spring of 1869. At that time, heavy rains swelled the river and the raging waters lifted the bridge from its foundation, turned it around, and sent it rapidly downstream into the Saco River Covered Bridge knocking it off its moorings. Both damaged structures broke up and came to rest two miles downstream. In a striking demonstration of Yankee thrift, much of the lumber salvaged from these two bridges was used in the building of the new Swift River Covered Bridge constructed by Jacob Berry and his son Jacob Jr. The current bridge was bypassed when a new concrete and steel bridge was built nearby in 1974. The Swift River Bridge is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.