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ARTISTS' COVERED BRIDGE LbNA #33489

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Jul 26, 2007
Location:
City:Bethel
County:Oxford
State:Maine
Boxes:1
Planted by:The Snoopster
Found by: The Woodland Elves
Last found:Jul 13, 2020
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFaF
Last edited:Nov 14, 2015
This is my first hand-carved stamp! *(See note)

This box has been confirmed and updated as of 9/7/10...

A single-span, 99'.5" Paddleford truss over the Sunday River. This bridge, built in 1872, was named the Artist's Bridge because of its reputation as being the most photographed and painted of the venerable covered bridges in Maine. The bridge was closed to traffic in 1958 when a new bridge was built downstream.

Location:
6.2 miles north-northwest of Bethel in Newry, Maine

Directions:
From Bethel, (at the jct. of US 2/SR 5/SR 26 and Parkway), go north on US 2/SR 4/SR 26 for 2.5 miles to Sunday River Road, turn left onto Sunday River Road, go 3.7 miles to the bypassed Bridge. (After 2.2 miles follow signs to the covered bridge. A road to ski slopes bears left; the road to covered bridge continues straight and then bears right.)

From Newry, Maine, at the jct. of US 2/SR 4/SR 26, go south on US 2/SR 4/SR 26 for 3.0 miles to Sunday River Road, turn right, follow directions. The turnoff for the ARTISTS' COVERED BRIDGE is on the left on Sunday River Road; follow signs to the covered bridge.

This area has excellent river swimming and picnicking areas on the rocky ledges beneath and down stream from the bridge.

Park in lot just before the bridge.

CLUES

Take the trail to the left and follow straight under the fallen birch tree.

Continue straight with the river to your right. You will come to an intersection and see a small sign for Camp Ella.

At this intersection, take a right towards the river.

Follow trail down and to the left (river is still on your right).

Look towards the water; you will notice two rocks…a large flat rock and an even larger one next to it.

Now look up towards the woods... there are two large tree stumps. The first one is made up of two stumps…the box is hidden behind the second stump of the first stump!

Please hide box well as this is a very well traveled area also please be respectful of the property.

Good luck and take some time to enjoy the surrounding beauty!

*Note *This stamp is carved out of linoleum and can be somewhat difficult to ink. I find the best method is to dab the stamp on the inkpad, then rub the stamp side to side to remove any excess. Then place the paper on top of the stamp and use a straight edge (i.e. a credit card) to rub the impression onto the paper.

>Some interesting background info about this bridge...

The bridge gets its name from the waterway it crosses. Its other name, Artists Covered Bridge, is an interesting story. It appears in Covered Bridges of Maine, a Guide, by Andrew R. Howard: Miss Alcenda Kendall, a resident interested in local history, discovered how the name Artists bridge originated. When built, the bridge had no special name. John J. Enneking, before he became a famous artist, was vacationing at the Locke House, later called the Locke Mountain House, at North Bethel. The artist sketched along the Sunday River, many times near the bridge. The Lock House residents began calling it the Artist bridge, and the name was taken up by the local residents. Other accounts simply say it is because it is the most painted and photographed bridge in the state. All sources except the World Guide to Covered Bridges (WGCB) indicate the date the bridge was built as 1872. The WGCB lists the date built as 1870. The bridge was bypassed in 1958 when a concrete bridge was built just downstream. There are also stories that occasionally clergymen used the site for baptisms in a shallow part of the stream beneath the bridge. In January 2003, the roof was repaired with wooden shake. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since February 16, 1970.