page_title: Skowhegan, Maine
section_title: Bridges
hierarchical_section_title: Skowhegan, Maine / Arts and culture / Bridges
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Swinging Bridge, Skowhegan, Me. Subjects: Bridges Places: Maine &gt; Somerset (county) &gt; Skowhegan Notes: Title from item. Extent: 1 print (postcard)&#160;: linen texture, color&#160;; 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. Accession #: 06_10_003887
context_page_description: Skowhegan is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 8,589. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously-held state fair in the United States. Skowhegan was originally inhabited by the indigenous Abenaki people who named the area Skowhegan, meaning "watching place [for fish]," and was massacred or driven from the area during the 4th Anglo-Abenaki War.
context_section_description: Among the town's features is the Swinging Bridge, a suspension footbridge first constructed in 1883 to connect Skowhegan Island with the south side of the Kennebec River. The swinging bridge was originally built for a local farmer to make his distance onto the island shorter for him to have to walk. This bridge lasted six years, until in 1888 the cables rotted and the bridge collapsed. A new bridge was built, which lasted until 1901, when a flood washed it out. Another bridge was built, higher this time, but in 1936, that bridge was washed out by a flood as well. It was rebuilt and has been in use since then. The Swinging Bridge was renovated in 2006 by the Skowhegan Highway Department, which earned the department a 2007 American Public Works Association Public Works Excellence Award.
  A railroad bridge was converted to a footbridge across the Kennebec River. This bridge was damaged in the Maine Flood of 1987.
caption: Swinging Bridge postcard c.1930s
exif: {}