Whenever I drive north on the New York State Thruway I like to look to the right when I get past the suburbs because I see a lot of century old relics from times past. Stone Silos, ancient farms, and a covered bridge, and so much more. After saluting the covered brodge a hundred times over the years, a trip to Kingston took me down by the bridge and I decided to visit it for the first time.
Now, covered bridges summon up rural images, and the place where Perrine’s Covered Bridge sits seems to fit the bill. The bridge is strong, silent, and peaceful over the tranquil Wallkill River. Except for traffic on the Thruway, it is a calm place. When it was built in the 1840s, it was not a tribute to rural America, it was an attempt to bring the Industrial Revolution to Esopus, New York. While the Wallkill here is calm, not far away are two waterfalls. These were not “Natural Wonders” back then, they were sources of power for mills.
The bridge underwent extensive conservation from the State of New York two decades ago and it is in excellent shape. You can view it and walk across the river over its boards just as people did during the Civil War. Before the war, workers from communities along the Wallkill crossed back and forth from their homes to the mills, and products were carted over this bridge and two others nearby to Kingston, New York, where it could be loaded onto Hudson River sloops to be shipped to the Port of New York, or up to Albany where it could be loaded onto Erie Canal barges to be shipped west.
Among the goods produced here was yarn spun at the mills from cotton shipped up from the South to New York City then sent upriver to Kingston and carted to Esopus. Local sheep produced wool which was spun into carpets at mills near the bridge. Other water-powered mills made knives and lumber.
Locally produced, fast-setting Rosendale Cement, had only been discovered in the 1830s. The cement and local bluestone were used to build the abutments at either end of the bridge. The original materials are still in use and are holding up well.
Looking at the Wallkill now from the railing of the bridge it is hard to even imagine an industrial landscape along the quiet stream.
The arches for the bridge were made from White Pine logs milled to be 27 inches thick. The bridge is twenty feet wide and 138 feet long. The bridge had a “snower,” a man paid to shovel snow onto the bridge in the winter so horse drawn sleighs could glide across.
Although there is some graffiti on the bridge, much of the exterior and interior is in excellent shape.
