Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge, Porter, Maine

The Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge was built by the towns of Porter and Parsonsfield as a joint project over the Ossipee River in 1859.

There was a dispute over the costs of building and maintaining the new bridge. A group of selectmen from each town met on the old, uncovered span. The meeting culminated when a selectman from Parsonsfield took a jackknife and tossed it at the midpoint of the span. He proceeded to say “the town of Parsonsfield shall build so far and no further!”

The152-foot structure is of Paddleford construction strengthened with laminated wooded arches. The bridge, located one-half mile south of Porter, was closed to traffic in 1960 when a new bridge was built upstream.

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