From collection Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
Covered Bridge, Groveton N.H. 1F
Scene of a covered bridge and neighboring houses mirrored in the glassy water of a still river. This image is part of a series made by one of the three Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company photographers assigned to cover New England or upstate New York. The glass plates would be sent back to Belfast, Maine, and processed into postcards at the printing plant on High Street. The Groveton Bridge, which crosses the Upper Ammonusuc River, was built by Captain Charles Richardson and his son in 1852. It exists today as a pedistrian bridge. Even at the turn of the century, when this image was taken, the covered bridge was a disappearing structural type. Here the Eastern photographer has composed an idyllic image playing the soft forms of the trees against the bridge's geometric and curvilinear forms, which are visually echoed in the water. The shot features the picturesque qualities of this particular bridge and its setting.
