HISTORY: Twin Bridges had swinging toll gate

Submitted photo
Helen Nichols, of Livermore Falls, sent us this photo of the Twin Bridges which spanned the Androscoggin River. According to “Maine’s Covered Bridges,” by Joseph D. Conwill, a replacement bridge was built in 1839 to replace the North Turner Toll Bridge, as it is also known, that had been built in 1828 but “lost to a freshet.” Dictionary.com defines a freshet as “a sudden rise in the level of a stream, or a flood, caused by heavy rains or the rapid melting of snow and ice.”

This bridge was built with a lattice truss and “it was a double-barrel bridge. It had two lanes for traffic, separated by a center truss.” This view is described: “North Turner Toll Bridge was on the Turner-Leeds town line, crossing to an island in the Androscoggin River. This view, from the island in Leeds, looks west toward Turner. It served as a toll bridge until 1924.”

Google this book for additional photos that come from the Maine Department of Transportation files.

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