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Oxford
County, Maine
(WGN
19-09-04) (WGCB ME-09-04) (1872; roof repaired 2003)
A single-span Paddleford truss 99' 4.5" over the Sunday River. Located:
6.2 miles north-northwest of the locality of Bethel, Maine, within the
Newry, Maine, town line. Directions: In Bethel, Maine, at the
jct. of US 2, SR 5, SR 26 and Parkway, go north on go north on US 2, SR
4 and SR 26 for 2.5 miles to Sunday River Road on the left (west),
turn left on Sunday River Road, and go 3.7 miles to the bypassed bridge.
(After 2.2 miles follow signs to the covered bridge. A road to ski
slopes bears left; the road to covered bridge continues straight and then
bears right.) Or, from Newry, Maine, at the jct. of US 2, SR 4 and
SR 26 , go south on on US 2, SR 4 and SR 26 for 3.0 miles to Sunday
River Road on the right (west), turn right, and follow directions above
for the Bethel approach on Sunday River Road. The bridge gets its
name from the waterway it crosses. Its other name, Artists Covered
Bridge, is an interesting story. It appears in Covered Bridges
of Maine, a Guide, by Andrew R. Howard: Miss Alcenda Kendall,
a resident interested in local history, discovered how the name Artists
bridge originated. When built, the bridge had no special name.
John J. Enneking, before he became a famous artist, was vacationing at
the Locke House, later called the Locke Mountain House, at North Bethel.
The artist sketched along the Sunday River, many times near the bridge.
The Lock House residents began calling it the Artist bridge, and the name
was taken up by the local residents. Other accounts simply say it
is because it is the most painted and photographed bridge in the state.
All sources except the World Guide to Covered Bridges (WGCB) indicate the
date the bridge was built as 1872. The WGCB lists the date built
as 1870. The bridge was bypassed in 1958 when a concrete bridge was
built just downstream. There are also stories that occasionally clergymen
used the site for baptisms in a shallow part of the stream beneath
the bridge. In January 2003, the roof was repaired with wooden shake.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 16,
1970. (May 2005) |
