National Register of Historic Places

Packerville Bridge

Plainfield, Windham County, Connecticut
Listed
November 27, 1992
Type
Structure
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
92001565

About this property

The Packerville Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge carrying Packerville Road over Mill Brook in Plainfield, Connecticut. Built in 1886, it is one of less than twenty surviving 19th-century stone arch bridges in the state and is a well-preserved example of vernacular 19th-century masonry bridge technology. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The Packerville Bridge is located in a rural setting southwest of Plainfield's central village, carrying Packerville Road over Mill Brook just north of its junction with Lowes Way. The bridge is located just downstream from the Packerville Dam, a remnant surviving element of a 19th-century mill that stood nearby at the time of the bridge's construction. It is a masonry arch bridge with cut-stone barrels and rubble spandrels spanning 26 feet (7.9 m) and a total structure length of 31 feet (9.4 m). The roadway width is about 20 feet (6.1 m), and is set about that distance above the water flow. The bridge was built in 1886 after a major flood washed away most of the town's bridges. It was built out of stone because locations below mill dams were considered at greater risk of flooding owing to dam breaches, and stone bridges were thought to be better able to withstand that type of event. The stone was quarried near Westerly, Rhode Island. The principal alteration to this structure was changing the guard rails from stone to metal in the 20th century. National Register of Historic Places listings in Windham County, Connecticut List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Location

Plainfield, Windham County, Connecticut
41.66707, -71.94830

Categories

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Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

Clark, Capt. John, House
Early Republic
1.3 mi
March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Old Canterbury Road
Colonial
1.6 mi
Butts Bridge
Colonial
1.6 mi
Lawton Mills Historic District
Listed
1.7 mi
Plainfield Street Historic District
Listed
2.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Packerville Bridge listed on the National Register?

Packerville Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 27, 1992.

What type of historic resource is Packerville Bridge?

Packerville Bridge is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Packerville Bridge?

The period of significance for Packerville Bridge is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Packerville Bridge?

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