(click on images for larger view)
Packerville Bridge,
Bridge No. 4754
• Packerville Road over Mill Brook
• Plainfield
• Stone arch
• Length: 26'
• Built in 1886
The ring stones of this semicircular arch are long blocks of pink granite, forming a contrast with
the rough fieldstone masonry of the sides of the bridge. Like most of the stone arches in eastern
Connecticut, this one was associated with textile manufacturing.
Packerville was formerly the site
of a small cotton mill started in 1818 by Daniel Packer. A typical paternalistic manufacturer,
Packer took a great interest in the little village around his mill, building the nearby church, its
parsonage, and houses for mill workers. This bridge, which is located just below the mill dam, may
also have been built by the mill.
Old views of the bridge show a simple wooden rail fence in place of the present concrete roadway
barriers.
