Travel Canada: The Historical Wakefield Covered Bridge

One of historical covered bridges in Canada, is this Gendron Covered Bridge, named after Ferdinand-Ambroise Gendron, a member of Legislative Assembly in 1900s. As it is located in Wakefield (Gatineau, Canada), the bridge is more known as Wakefield Covered Bridge.

This tourist attraction bridge was built in 1914/1915 and was one of the first bridges that connected Gatineau, to encourage settlement and development. This bridge was quickly becoming an important economic asset for Wakefield and neighboring areas.

In old days, kids loved playing around the bridge structure, climbing and swinging. Lovers liked to carved initials, photographers would also use the bridge as their main object, some would dive down to Gatineau River by jumping off of the bridge, etc. Locals have many fond memories of the bridge, not just as a main busy bridge which heavy trucks and busses driven through.

In 1984 the bridge was destroyed by an arsonist and only in 1998 it was rebuilt and reopened for public.

Today, people are no longer allowed to jump off the bridge, no transportation is allowed to cross the bridge but pedestrians on foot, and some of the originals pieces from the old days can be found on the pillars.

Locals, tourists, and photographers have been using the bridge as engagement, wedding picture, pregnancy announcement background thesedays, and this bridge is often featured on calendars.

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Thanks For Looking!

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