A Pretty Little Piece of History

This shot was taken exactly three months ago today when I went up to New Hampshire in October with my Mom and Amanda.  During our stay at the Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa,  I was told that there was a covered bridge not too far away that was named for General John Stark, the hero of the Battle of Bennington whom I had written about in a post for The Distracted Wanderer. Naturally I had to go in search of it and I'm glad I did as isn't it pretty?

Built in 1862, the Paddleford truss design bridge is located in Stark Village and spans the Upper Ammonoosuc River. The bridge almost disappeared twice from its site next to the church - first in the late 1800s when the covered bridge was lifted from it site and carried down the river by a flood. Not willing to lose their bridge to the whims of Mother Nature, a group of determined men used oxen to drag the bridge back to its original site and place it back where it belonged. In the 1950s the bridge was almost lost again when the townspeople voted to replace it with a steel bridge. Following a rather loud outcry by folks who felt that the bridge was too historic to destroy, the decision was overturned and care of the bridge was turned over to the State of New Hampshire which has maintained it ever since as Bridge Number 37 on its list of historic covered bridges.

So there you have it, a pretty little piece of history to start the year with! Oh, and if someone could please tell me why this church has the sort of steeple that it does I'd be most grateful! I saw a few other churches that had the same four points or pikes at the top but I've got no idea why or what they're called.  Can anyone shed some light on the subject?