A Brief History of the Robeyville Bridge of Corinth, Maine
(C) James R. Wilson, great-great-great grandson of Royal Sweet, the builder, in Corinth, October 1998
Once in the heart of a busy mill town, the Robeyville Bridge of East Corinth remains one of the area's most impressive landmarks. Tucked away on an old country road which bears the bridge's name about three miles northwest of Kenduskeag village, it is perhaps one of the more difficult to find of Maine's remaining covered bridges. Its discovery is, nonetheless, an exciting one for both local residents and sightseers alike.
According to the History of Corinth, William Bradbury built, in 1830, a large gristmill in the southern part of town. The mill was large for those days, and, as help was needed, encouraged a settlement to spring up around it. The mill was later sold to Samuel Robey and since then it has been known as 'Robeyville'.
Robeyville was soon to become a busy mill town and this fine old bridge saw plenty of traffic. The life of the little town was but short lived, however. When the highway was moved, Robeyville became a ghost town and the mill fell into disuse (Packard). It is interesting to note also that the Town of Corinth and neighboring Exeter were among the foremost dairying towns of the state in the mid-nineteenth century. Yet, both felt the effects of the departure of many of its youth to cities and western farms at an early date. Economic depression also hit the area in the mid-1870s (Wagner, 4).
The bridge's construction must have been ordered well before trouble beset the small community. A sign over the entrance shows 1876 as the date of the building. Records prove, on the contrary, that the bridge was constructed between 1870 and 1872.
Its builder, Royal A. Sweet (19 January 1837 to 5 July 1905) was 33 years of age in 1870 when the bridge was built. Royal had been for some time then already recognized as a skilled carpenter, blacksmith, and carriage maker (Wagner, 15). As such, Royal was responsible for the construction of the barn built in 1873 on the Skinner Settlement. The structure, erected some 90 years after the homestead was settled, does not remain today as it burned in 1989. He also manufactured wood sleds for the Morison brothers in East Corinth for their extensive lumbering operations. Some of his sleds went as far as Bar Harbor. Royal once said that he was tool poor, the more so since he would lend anything to anyone (Wagner, 141).
The cost of building this bridge, some 97 feet in length spanning the Kenduskeag Stream, was $1,375.06. In fact, the timbers used in its construction were most likely hauled by oxen by Royal to Robeyville from George Palmer's mill in the Town of Garland (Gallagher).
A distinguishing feature, that has given rather widespread fame to this particular bridge, is the fact that it is completely wood shingled --not only the roof but also the sides. Shingles being plentiful in the past, other bridges have been finished in this manner. However, the Robeyville representative is the last one in Maine and probably in the entire country. A nearby cow path to the flow of water below adds to the pastoral setting (Jakeman).
There are two "runways" in the hooded structure, each three planks wide going lengthwise over a crossways flooring (Jakeman, 39). There seems to be a bit of discrepancy as to what sort of truss was used in the construction of the Robeyville Bridge. After inspecting the bridge, it would seem that the best theory is that the trusses are of the "Long Design", which is often referred to as the X design. The truss, designed by Colonel Stephen Harriman Long (1784-1864), consists of panels comprising single vertical wooden members with single crosspieces. Generally the structures that remain today have these single crosspieces replaced by a double brace and a single counterbrace. The single vertical members have been doubled.
The Howe design, which other sources cite as the truss design of the Robeyville Bridge, is so named for William Howe (1803-1853). His design was very similar to that of Colonel Long in all but one important way. Howe replaced the vertical wooden tension members with iron rods, which could easily be adjusted, in order to "tune up the bridge" as it was said. There doesn't appear to be any rod work in the bridge as it stands (Howard).
In the case of the Robeyville Bridge, the abutments and piers are of massive granite stones. The granite blocks are interlocking in the abutment so that it has survived high waters that have washed out bridges of similar age. According to a study of covered bridges by Richard Allen, the stone was almost always laid "dry" and the rock held together tightly. To bind the stone a thin liquid mixed from lime and cement were poured into the mass of the abutment. "This mixture called ‘grout’ trickled between the stones, filling the gaps, and hardened to make a solid piece of work. Mortar made of cement was a boon to the mason when it came into use. It was troweled on extensively to repair bridge abutments and piers, and the faces of the stones joined more solidly when they were 'pointed up' with this binding material". Mortared abutments can be seen in covered bridges at West Arlington in Vermont and at the Robeyville Bridge.
At one time, there were a hundred and twenty covered bridges in Maine, but what with log jams, fire, progress and the great freshet of 1896 there remains just ten scattered from Aroostook to York Counties." (Maine Trail). The bridges were covered to protect truss members from the elements. It is a well-known fact that wood will rot if exposed alternately to moisture and sun.
In 1959, the 99th Maine State Legislature took steps to insure that the elderly structures would be cared for in their old age. Covered Bridges were placed under regular bridge maintenance of the State Highway Department the only stipulation being that if a bridge should be destroyed by natural causes it would not be rebuilt (Maine Trail).
A great deal of work has been done to this bridge to keep it in good condition. There has been an effort to upgrade the bridge with girders place inconspicuously under it to allow normal traffic that would use a small country road (Robertson). In 1982, some $17, 550 from the Abner Ford Morison Fund, established in 1969, were appropriated to its reconstruction. The bridge was reinforced in 1984 to carry local traffic.
Maintaining a covered bridge is hard work since they are so fragile and subject to much abuse by the elements. In the picture of the bridge found in the Lewiston Journal (August 17, 1963), one notices a shingle or two missing from the lower edge of the structure. Mrs. Velma Gallagher, great-granddaughter of the builder, knows how the shingles were lost. She said, in a recent interview, "For several years, during the thirties, my sister and I lived with our grandparents a short distance from the bridge. (Grandmother was Royal's daughter.) We walked through the bridge to school everyday. We learned to swim in the water under the bridge and we played on the ledges nearby. My most frightening experience happened one spring while the ice was going out. The water was so high that while I was crossing the bridge on my way home from school for lunch, a piece of ice hit the bridge and broke off one of the shingles." It is interesting to note that the water of the Kenduskeag Stream at the point of the Robeyville Bridge was indeed higher back then due to the dam created as part of the gristmill a little further down stream at Higginsville. The gristmill was destroyed by fire in 1897, again in 1904, and finally in 1940. The dam has since been disassembled and water levels have dropped.
The Robeyville Bridge is, then, but one of what came to be known as a "Kissing Bridge" -- undoubtedly, one of the side effects of covering a bridge was to encourage the timid suitor to steal a kiss from his date as their horse and buggy passed through (Howard). Perhaps the longer the bridge, the better! Many couples would carve their initials on the timbers or siding of the structure. This custom is still followed today, together, unfortunately, with some undesirable material.
Sources
1. Allen, Richard Sanders. Covered Bridges of the Northeast. Brattleboro, VT: Stephen Greene Press, 1974.
2. Folsom, Ernestine C. Maine's Remaining Covered Bridges. S.L.: E.C. Folsom, 1987. p. 28.
3. Howard, Andrew R. Covered Bridges of Maine.: a guide Unionville, CN.: Village Press, 1982.
4. Jakeman, Adelbert M. Old Covered Bridges of Maine. Ocean Park, ME: Sea Haven, 1980. pp. 39-40.
5. Packard, Harry A. "Maine's 10 Covered Bridges Are Pure Delight to Photographers". Lewiston Journal, Magazine Section. Saturday, August 17, 1963. p. 5-A.
6. Robertson Edwin .B. and Doris .R.. Maine Covered Bridge Finder. Westbrook, ME: Robertson Books, 1983.
7. Wagner, James B. Observations on the Diaries of Joseph B. Wheeler of Corinth, Maine. Orono, ME: July 29, 1969.
8. Wagner, James B. The First Century on the Eastern Frontier: Transitional Farming in Corinth, Maine. (Unpublished thesis: University of Maine, June, 1971.)
9. "Covered Bridges Getting New Lease on Life". The Maine Trail. February, 1960. pp. 11-13.
10. "Covered Bridges in Maine". Augusta, ME: Maine State Highway Commission, 1956.
11. (Unknown) "History of Corinth" including poem by Mary B. Wingate.
12. "There Are Only Ten of These Left in Maine". Maine Times, Friday, April 24, 1970.
13. Covered Bridges in Maine from the Department of Transportation. http://www.state.me.us/mdot
14. Interview with Mrs. Velma Gallagher of Garland, ME: great granddaughter of Royal SWEET. 4 November 1998.
15. Genealogical Research on the SWEET Family as conducted by James R. Wilson of Corinth: great-great-great grandson of Royal SWEET.
Other Sources:
