Hartland is a small town on the Saint
John River in the province of New Brunswick,
Canada. Opened on July 4, 1901, the 1,282
foot (390 meters) covered bridge crossing
the Saint John River at Hartland is the
longest covered bridge in the world and
is an official Canadian National Historic
Site. Such bridges are found in rural
areas throughout the United States and
Canada, but are often threatened by arsonists,
vandals, and flooding. They are also common
around eastern Canada and in the United
States in places such as Chester County,
Pennsylvania and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
Lane County, Oregon, Madison County, Iowa
and Parke County, Indiana. Parts of Ohio,
Michigan, Kentucky, Maryland, and the
New England states also have surviving
covered bridges.
Opened
on July 4, 1901, the 1,282 foot (390 meter)
covered bridge crossing the St. John River
at Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada, is
currently the longest covered bridge in
the world. It is a Canadian National Historic
Site. In 1900, New Brunswick had an estimated
400 covered bridges, and Quebec more than
1000, while Ontario had only had 5. A
much longer covered bridge (5,960 feet)
between Columbia and Wrightsville, Pennsylvania
once spanned the mile-wide Susquehanna
River, making it the longest and most
versatile covered bridge in the world
during its existance. It featured railroad
tracks, a towpath for canal boats crossing
the river between two canals on either
bank, and a carriage / wagon / pedestrian
road. The popular tollbridge was burned
June 28, 1863, by Union militia during
the American Civil War to prevent its
usage by the Confederate Army of Northern
Virginia during the Gettysburg Campaign.
A replacement wooden covered bridge was
destroyed by a windstorm a few years later.
It was rebuilt as an open-air steel bridge.
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