Covered bridges are seemingly ubiquitous here in New England. If you already follow Yankee Magazine, you’re probably well aware.
The thing about Rhode Island, however, is that strictly speaking we have only one that is accessible to the general public (I mean, who knows, there could be one on some estate somewhere in the Ocean State that’s owned by a tech gazillionaire or something) and it sits atop Hemlock Brook in Foster.
In order to qualify for the distinction of being an authentic covered bridge, it must be built from trusses — essentially, a sequence of wooden (or metal) triangles that fortify, making the completed structure strong enough to support a great deal of weight.
Now, for Swamp Meadow’s back story, and for the record, let me just say that I was utterly shocked when I first learned about it:…