The Bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick: The Story of the Longest Covered Bridge in the World

Richard Wilbur is Supervisor of the Legislative Research Service at the
New Brunswick Legislature and author of The Rise of French New
Brunswick.

The “longest covered bridge in the world” deserves some written
tribute, and this short work fills the bill. Compiled by two natives of
the Harland, a prosperous New Brunswick farming community in the upper
reaches of the Saint John River, this account is in the best tradition
of solid local history. The two authors—one a teacher and the other
his/her former student (which is which we aren’t told)—have shown
great enterprise and considerable skill in writing a concise chronology
of why and how it was constructed and how it has managed to outlive so
many smaller covered bridges destroyed by vandalism, storm, and
“progress.”

Construction of the conventional open bridge took place in 1901; the
idea of placing a roof over this 1282-foot structure was suggested
shortly thereafter and as quickly dismissed as too expensive. When the
provincial government of the day realized that the original price tag of
$80,000 equalled New Brunswick’s annual roads and bridges budget, it
refused to give its support, but later guaranteed the bonds of the local
company created to build and operate it. For the first three years after
its completion, tolls were imposed—three cents per person each way
(the same fare for a cow), six cents each way for a single rig—fees
that drew so much opposition that tolls were removed five years later.

Even more clearly than the text, numerous excellent pictures provide
the reader with a graphic account of the bridge’s struggle to survive
until 1980, when it was officially designated a structure of national
architectural significance.