Lovejoy Covered Bridge, Andover Maine
Andover is situated midway of the length of Oxford County and is bounded on the east by Roxbury, on the North and West by Newry and Rumford. The town is surrounded by mountains and is a region of grand and beautiful scenery. The surface of the town in the broad valley between the mountains is quite smooth. The Ellis River runs on a southerly course through this town. The township was purchased in 1791 of Massachusetts, by Samuel Johnson and others of Old Andover. It was incorporated in 1804 under the name of East Andover, but in 1821 became Andover. The first settler was Ezekiel Merrill, who in 1789, came with his wife and six children. In 1792 several families came in from Andover Massachusetts. Over time the forest cover was rolled back and the soil was cultivated. The manufacturers of the town have included lumber, doors sash and blinds, starch, cheese (factory), boots and shoes, edge tools, carriages, and harnesses. The first lumber mills were erected in 1791 by Colonel Thomas Poor. In 1870 the population was 757. In 2020 the population was 666. Most of the old factories have gone. Andover is today a quiet bedroom town for workers in industrial Rumford 20 miles south.
This bridge was built in 1868, to serve as a connector between the west River Road from Rumford Point to Andover and the East River Road from Rumford Center. A small village grew up at this point on the Ellis River, the South Andover Village. There have been no records available that can establish whether or not this was the first bridge at this point. Since the South Andover Village predates the known bridge's building date, 1868, it would be assumed that some mode of river crossing at this point was as necessary before 1868 as after and even today. The river narrows at this point and due to this short span between the banks could well have precluded a ferry and warranted a bridge or bridges before 1868.
Bridge Description
This wooden covered bridge spans the Ellis River as it passes through the Town of Andover and in the South Andover section thereof. Once the traveler is oriented in the village of Rumford Point (U.S. Rt. 2) they leave U.S. Rt. 2 and proceed north on Maine Rt. 5 for nine miles. At this point they would find a side road going East and entering it, they would immediately face this bridge. The local is rural. The Ellis River flows down slowly through a broadening valley, between rugged mountains, until it reaches the Androscoggin River at Rumford Point. The river bottom land is fertile and supports several productive farms.
This wooden structure is about 70' long, 20' wide and 22' high from the floor to the peak of the gable roof. The overhead clearance is 14' and the bridge is rated to support a load limited to 5 tons. The bridge is built on granite block abutments set 65' apart at a narrow point in the River's width. It is Maine's shortest covered bridge.
The basic engineering concept employed in the span of this bridge is best described as being Paddleford Truss construction or a modification of a Long Truss System. The system consists of a series of crossed beams and Kingposts. One of the beams is morticed first into the King post near the bottom end while this beam's other end is morticed into the top of the next Kingpost. Two smaller beams, parallel with each other, then cross the first beam and run by Kingposts to anchor on the top and bottom chords. The Kingposts are morticed into the chords. In this manner Kingposts and cross beams run the length of the truss strengthening the bottom-chord. The bottom chords of the two trusses are tied with cross beams which provide the base of the flooring planks that run down the length of the bridge. The top chords provide the plates for roof rafters which end in the peak of the gable. Rafters support purlins to which cedar shingles are nailed completing the cover of the gable roof. The sides of the bridge are boarded in. Boards run up and down. The ends of the gable are boarded in down to the clearance and covered with clapboards. Trim boards are added at the ends of the gable. The gable ends and trim are painted. The balance of the bridge is not painted. The side-to-side clearance is about 17'.
Looking West (1970)
(1984)
(1984)
