07-04-01 – Comstock Covered Bridge Built in 2011 in Middlesex Co. CT Spanning Salmon River on Bridge St – 1 span, 80′ long, Howe trusses
The first bridge at this location was built in 1791. The crossing was once part of the Colchester and Chatham Turnpike chartered by the Connecticut Legislature in October 1808. In 1873, the Town of Colchester voted that the bridge over Salmon River be rebuilt and the Town of Chatham approved the project. The Howe truss covered bridge was built at a cost of $3,958.59. In 1915 a bill was introduced in to the state legislature to transfer maintenance of the bridge from the towns of Colchester and Chatham (as East Hampton was known at the time) to Middlesex and New London Counties since the road was becoming a state trunk line. Ownership remained with the towns until the bridge was bypassed in the 1930s. In 1937-38 this bridge was rebuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corps using weathered boards from old barns. The wooden gates were added at this time. The old structure was dismantled and a new one was built in 2011 using some of the timbers from the previous covered bridge. The site is part of a state picnic area. Although some sources list the bridge as in East Hampton and Colchester, the town line is east of the river at this point making the bridge entirely in East Hampton.
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