Stone Arch Bridge - Stoddard, NH
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 43° 04.446 W 072° 02.736
18T E 740526 N 4773280
Bridge was fenced off when I visited, but photos now show you can walk across it to view site.
Waymark Code: WMJV0N
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 01/01/2014
Views: 3
Historic marker on site (text):
"This twin arch structure, built without mortar and sustained solely by expert shaping of its archstones, is typical of a unique style of bridge construction employed primarily in the Contoocook River Valley in the first half of the Nineteenth Century. These bridges are a significant part of our American architectural heritage." ~ State of New Hampshire
The gravel parking area, and the road across the bridge are part of the original 19th century road.
"At the town meeting in March of 1852, the residents of Stoddard voted to build a new bridge over the North Branch river on the road to Antrim. The town's three selectmen, Abner Knowlton, Nathan Morse, and William Wilson, were to oversee the project. The bridge that the selectmen contracted and paid for with town funds, was this stone arch bridge which still stands near Stoddard's eastern boundary.
"The town's residents became very upset when they saw the bridge being constructed. They felt that the twin arch bridge was much too extravagant and a waste of the taxpayer's money. Despite their objections, the bridge was completed and put into use. The taxpayers had the last word, however, as they would never again elect the three selectmen under whose direction the structure had been built. Little did those Stoddard residents know that the bridge they had condemned would survive for more than a century to be recognized as a landmark of American engineering." ~ Historic Society oif Cheshire County