Explore Swamp Meadow Covered Bridge in Foster

Photograph by Frank Grace

Rhode Island’s only covered bridge on a public road looks straight out of the 1800s; in reality, the Swamp Meadow Covered Bridge celebrates its thirtieth birthday next month. In the 1990s, a group of Foster residents resolved to bring one of the iconic New England structures to their streets. Jed Dixon, a local stairbuilder, was tasked with designing it. “The idea was if you could build a stair, you could build a bridge,” recalls his wife, Helen Hardy. The structure took eight months to assemble, with volunteers gathering at the worksite every Saturday. On May 23, 1993, the town dedicated the original bridge to much fanfare. Four months later, residents awoke to the devastating news that teenage vandals had burned it down overnight. “Everybody was heartbroken,” Hardy says. The second time around, donations were easier to come by. The resurrected bridge garnered statewide attention, and volunteers thronged to the project. “We just buckled down and we got it done amazingly well,” Dixon says. “It was a great spirit of cooperation.” Hundreds attended its dedication the following year. Today, nearby Borders Farm Preservation oversees its maintenance using a private fund. Though many of the original volunteers have retired from bridge work, a local scout troop still assists with caring for the structure, which shows few signs of weathering. Matt Davidson, who worked on the bridge alongside Dixon and fellow volunteer John Neale, puts it more succinctly: “It’s in better shape than the rest of us,” he says.