December 2010 Update -On September 25th and 26th, Jenn & I along with George & Tina Conn hosted the Pioneer Safari. During the two days we enjoyed the beautiful fall foliage while visiting 19 covered bridges in southern New Hampshire and Vermont. Nearly 40 people attended at least part of the event. We are looking forward to planning next year's event and welcome any suggestions for possible tour locations.
      Arcadia Publishing has offered me the opportunity to prepare a book in their Images of America series about the covered bridges of Connecticut and Rhode Island. This will be my first book and, as you can imagine, I am quite excited about it. If all goes as planned, it will be released at the end of next summer. I am still looking for more information and historic photos of bridges in both states. If you have any that you think would be good for the book, please let me know. All contributions will be properly credited. Having said that, I feel that it is only fitting that this update discusses one of the bridges in the book.
      Unionville is part of the town of Farmington and is located in the central part of Connecticut, west of Hartford. The Unionville covered bridge was built over the Farmington River in 1859. It was a two span Howe truss with covered sidewalks on both sides. It was replaced with a pony truss bridge in 1922. The replacement structure was destroyed by the Hurricane of 1938.
      On September 20, 1911, Unionville was the host location for the annual "Fireman's Field Day" The covered bridge, along with most of the public and private buildings in town, was decorated with bunting for the occasion. In honor of the celebration, businesses and factories were closed for the day. As many as 500 firefighters with their equipment and vehicles marched along the five mile parade route accompanied by bands and drum corps. It was estimated that over 6000 people visited from neighboring communities. In addition to the parade, the day's festivities included a number of sporting events, a concert band, community dinner, and evening dance.
      I would like to thank Cliff Alderman, President of the Unionville Museum and author of an Arcadia book about Unionville for sending me newspaper articles describing the Fireman's Day events.
      For information about other former covered bridges, visit our website at www.lostbridges.org. If you have information or pictures of the former bridges in your area, please share that with us. There is still a vast amount of territory to cover and any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Email is usually the most effective way to contact me bill@lostbridges.org