Cornwall Bridge, CT

Cornwall Bridge is a Litchfield County census-designated place spread across Cornwall and Sharon along the Housatonic River. US 7 follows the eastern bank before crossing the river, and the CDP includes the hamlets of Cornwall Bridge and Calhoun Corners. The crossing has organized local movement for generations. A long-span covered bridge stood here in the nineteenth century before ice and flooding took it out in 1936, while the present highway bridge dates to the twentieth-century road era. The river divides the place between two towns, but the road, bridge, and old commercial center keep the pieces connected.

Railroad history is still visible below the highway. The Cornwall Bridge station was built in the 1880s for the Housatonic Railroad, later became part of the New Haven and Penn Central systems, and was listed on the National Register in 1972. Passenger service ended in 1971, leaving the station as a reminder of the period when the river valley carried iron, farm goods, and travelers by rail. Cornwall Bridge once had a blacksmith, stores, a vinegar factory, and the Cornwall Bridge Iron Company, which made iron for railroad-car wheels. Portions of the CDP fall in Cornwall and Sharon school districts. The 2020 census counted 287 residents.