At town meeting in 1915, the Hardwick Village citizens instructed the Village Trustees to help fund a footbridge across the Lamoille River, from Main Street at “a point between the Gazette building and the flatiron building to a point on the Brush Street property recently purchased by Samuel Daniels.” The Villagers instructed the Trustees not to spend more than $350.00 on the footbridge. The Trustees had the authority to supervise and direct the construction of the bridge, but “their cost should not exceed one half of the expense of building it.” The resulting bridge is approximately 102 feet long, the deck five feet wide, and its towers 18 feet high. The footbridge was used for over 100 years.

The bridge has now met the end of its expected life and is closed to the public due to safety concerns. In line with the recommendation of a structural assessment of the bridge funded by a PTV Robert Sincerbeaux Fund grant, the Town has committed to replacing this important characteristic element of this state designated historic district. The replacement bridge will serve as a critical connection and increase potential economic activity. A 2021 community survey found, based on 31 responses, average spending dropped to 35.6% of spending prior to the bridge’s closure and 88.0% of survey respondents (88 out of 100) said that the closure of the pedestrian bridge impacted them.

The Town has committed $100,000 of its own funds and received $375,000 in grant funds from USDA Rural Development. The $75,000 grant will help them close the current funding gap and leverage additional public funding.