There are no covered bridges in Hartland, Wisconsin, a town of more than 8,000 located just outside Milwaukee. However, a different Hartland, the one located in New Brunswick in Canada, does feature a famous covered bridge, which the town touts as the longest covered bridge in the world.
There are only two covered bridges in Wisconsin, according to Bridgehunter.com. Cedarburg is the only community in Wisconsin that still has a historic covered bridge. There were as many as 40 covered bridges at one time in the state's history, but the only remaining two are located at the Covered Bridge County Park in Cedarburg and on Covered Bridge Road in Springwater. The Cedarburg bridge was built in 1876 and the Springwater bridge was constructed in 1997.
The Hartland Covered Bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick, spans the St. John River that slices through the town. It is 1,282 feet long. The bridge connects one part of the town to other. The bridge allows for vehicle travel, though with some restrictions on the size of the vehicles that travel on it. It also has a pedestrian walkway on it, allowing for foot travel back and forth across the river.
The Hartland Covered Bridge was a result of collaboration between Hartland residents on both sides of the St. John River. A group of residents formed the Hartland Covered Bridge Company in the late 1800s, according to a summary published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It opened for public traffic on July 4, 1901, though it had been used for a medical emergency two months earlier. It was not covered until 1922 in the midst of repairs prompted by damage caused by ice. Major repairs were done in 1983 after a car struck the bridge and caused significant damage.
The Hartland Covered Bridge has become a tourist destination popular with photographers. Nominated as one of the "Seven Wonders of Canada" in a project of the CBC, the Hartland Covered Bridge was made a National Historic Site in 1980 and a Provincial Historic Site in 1999. A postage stamp was issued in 1995 honoring the bridge. The bridge, which is owned by the New Brunswick government, "stands as a beautiful monument to a quieter time," according to the CBC.
