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Skilton Road Bridge

road bridge in Watertown, United States of America

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ29469098 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Skilton Road Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge, carrying Skilton Road across the Nonewaug River in Northwestern Watertown, Connecticut. The bridge was built in 1865–66, and is a rare well-preserved example of a mid-19th century stone bridge. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Description and history

The Skilton Road Bridge is located in a rural-residential area of Northwestern Watertown, spanning the Nonewaug River between Hinman Road and Hickory Lane. The bridge has an overall length of 35 feet (11 m), with a single arch spanning 20 feet (6.1 m). It is made of dry laid local stone, and is built on a stone ledge on one side and a stone abutment on the other. The stones which form the barrel of the arch are roughly worked, while those filling the spandrels show little evidence of work. The arch is a slightly asymmetrical segmented arch, probably due to the difficulties involved in working at the site. The bridge is 16 feet (4.9 m) wide, and carries a single lane of traffic.

The bridge was built either in 1865–66, after the town voted in 1865 to fund its construction; Skilton Road was at the time the major route between Watertown and Bethlehem.

Editorial summary

“Skilton Road Bridge” enters the record as road bridge in Watertown, United States of America. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Skilton, Road and Bridge can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1865, 1991—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Skilton, Road and Bridge.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Skilton Road Bridge” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Skilton, Road and Bridge provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q29469098. Authority coordinates are 41.629, -73.159. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1865 and 1991.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Skilton Road Bridge”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Skilton Road Bridge primary sources, Skilton Road Bridge archive and Skilton research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Skilton Road Bridge”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Skilton Road Bridge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.