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The Bissell Covered Bridge in Charlemont seen from the south on a sunny early-summer day: a 92-foot Long-truss covered bridge with vertical-board pine siding, a low-pitched dark asphalt-shingle gable roof, a pedimented portal facing the camera at left and the long flank of the bridge running away to the right with a row of small rectangular window openings, a stop sign and Park Street / N. Heath road signs at the near corner, a pedestrian walkway with a wooden rail along the near side, tall grass and Mill Brook's ravine in the foreground, and a wooded green hillside rising behind under a clear blue sky.
Things to See · Historic Site
Bissell Bridge, Charlemont, 2013. Photo by Magicpiano, source, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Bissell Covered Bridge

Charlemont, Franklin County

Category
Historic Site
Town
Charlemont
County
Franklin
Admission
Free; viewable from public roads at all times

The Bissell Covered Bridge carries North Heath Road (Route 8A) over Mill Brook just north of Charlemont Center. The current 92-foot Long-truss span dates to 1951, a near-replica of an 1840 original, built after the town objected to a proposed modern steel-and-concrete replacement of the failing earlier bridge.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and reopened to traffic after a 2008–2009 rehabilitation. It is one of just a handful of New England covered bridges still carrying full two-lane vehicular traffic, rather than reduced to single-lane, foot, or bicycle use.

What to see

  • The portal and trusswork: a pedimented entry with a carved “Bissell Bridge” sign over the road, and the long timber Long-truss visible from inside the deck or from the brookside below.
  • Mill Brook and the ravine: a short pull-off at the south end gives a side view of the bridge from above the water; in fall the surrounding hills color out.
  • The walkway: a separated pedestrian walk runs along one side, so the bridge is comfortable to cross on foot even though traffic still uses it.

Visiting

The bridge sits on Route 8A about a mile north of Route 2 in Charlemont, easy to combine with a drive on the Mohawk Trail, a stop at Hail to the Sunrise, or a Deerfield River rafting trip out of the village. There is no formal parking lot; pull off on the road shoulder near the bridge approaches and walk in. The bridge is free and viewable at any hour.

Sources