The First Bridge Over the Connecticut

Did you know that the first bridge over the Connecticut River was a wooden toll bridge built in 1785 by Colonel Enoch Hale in Bellows Falls?

The bridge stood a quarter mile north of the current location of the Vilas Bridge at the narrowest span of the Connecticut River.  Crossing the bridge on horse would have cost you three cents! The view in the remarkably detailed drawing below is looking east to New Hampshire.

A Second Toll Bridge

Fifty-five years after Hale built the first bridge over the Connecticut, Captain Isaac Damon and his partner Lyman Kingsley hired local bridge builder Sanford Granger to build a new bridge, replacing the original structure with a 262-foot, lattice-truss wooden covered bridge.  Interestingly, the new bridge was built 15 feet above the old bridge, allowing the latter to remain in place for river crossings during construction.

Damon and Kingsley built a total of 11 lattice-truss bridges over the Connecticut River.  The crisscrossed, lattice-like framework of diagonal elements, clearly visible in the photos below, distributed the load and provided structural stability for the bridge deck.

Sanford Granger built several local covered bridges, shown in the photograph below, some of which are still in use today, including Hall, Worrall, and Bartonsville.

A resident of Rockingham for many years, Granger was a founding member of the Bellows Falls Methodist Church. He funded what many knew as the YMCA building on Atkinson Street, which sadly had to be demolished in 2021. Near Granger Street, Sanford operated a successful sawmill and brickyard, neither of which are still standing.

Nathaniel Tucker, a prominent local in the 19th century, financed the building of this second bridge over the Connecticut, operating it as the Tucker Toll Bridge, which stood proudly for 92 years, as shown in the following two photographs, drawn from the archives of the Rockingham Free Public Library.

Once a year at Christmas, “all those from New Hampshire points who wished to attend the Christmas services at Immanuel Church could pass the bridge free of toll.” Tucker set a rather exorbitant fine of two dollars for "running on the bridge."

In 1904, the towns of Rockingham and Walpole purchased the Tucker Toll Bridge for $6,000 and made the crossing free for public use for the first time in 120 years.

Enter Charles Nathaniel Vilas

In 1930, the Tucker Toll Bridge was replaced by the Vilas Bridge, whose construction was funded in part by local philanthropist Charles Nathaniel Vilas (pronounced vy-lis).

A native of Alstead NH, Vilas moved to New York City at a young age to work for his uncle at the high-end Fifth Avenue Hotel located at 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue, just a short walk from the famous Flatiron Building constructed in 1902.  Vilas eventually acquired half-ownership in the hotel, which he managed until his retirement in 1908, and returned to his hometown of Alstead at the age of 56, a wealthy man.

The 635-foot, two-span concrete-deck arch bridge—officially the Charles N. Vilas Bridge—was built by the New Hampshire-based Robie Construction Company for $240,000. The bridge was dedicated in 1931, the year Vilas died at the age of 78. The plaque installed expressed gratitude from the towns of Walpole and Rockingham for “a kind and generous neighbor.” The photograph below, also from the Rockingham Free Public Library, shows the cutting of the ribbon for the new bridge. Does anyone know the young girl doing the cutting?

In 1933, the U.S. Supreme Court awarded New Hampshire ownership of the Connecticut River, noting that Vermont would retain ownership of its shore land. As a result, all bridges crossing the Connecticut River are owned primarily by New Hampshire.  A four-inch brass disk signifies the low-water mark on the Vermont side at each crossing to indicate the state line. Does anyone know where this can be found in Bellows Falls?

Closed for Repairs

In 1974, the Vilas Bridge was rehabbed, and, as many of you know, in March 2009 it was closed due to the deterioration of the bridge’s concrete structure. This shut down the crossing of this section of the Connecticut River for the first time in 224 years. Downtown merchants reported that the 2,000 vehicles that used to cross daily into Bellows Falls from New Hampshire dwindled into the hundreds, significantly impacting businesses located in the Square.

The New Hampshire DOT has budgeted $18 million for reconstruction of the Vilas Bridge starting in 2028. As the "owner" of the Connecticut river, New Hampshire owns 93 percent of the Vilas Bridge. Vermont will contribute seven percent of construction costs.

Balancing modern functionality with historic preservation, the new Vilas Bridge will retain a two-span concrete arch design with open spandrels while improving accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and upgrading the sewer lines that run underneath the bridge.

Importantly for preservationists, the bronze plaque installed on the Vilas Bridge in 1931 will be remounted on the new bridge.  The plaque reproduces the last stanza of the poem “The Bridge Builder” by Will Allen Dromgoole, underscoring the importance of building bridges for future generations:

“There followeth after me to-day

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

This stream that has been a joy to me

To the fair-haired youth might a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim.

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”

We’ll have more interesting stories and historical coverage of the bridges of Bellows Falls in our next blog post!

Questions?

You can email us at any time with questions about the Depot Street Bridge replacement project at developmentassist@rockbf.org.  You can also send us information on the history of the area, which we'll be happy to share with the community through this blog.