The 2013 Priority Mail stamp has arrived, and it’s a real beauty . . . just like the bridge it honors: Arlington Green Bridge in Bennington County, Vermont. Built in 1852, Arlington Green Bridge is one of the best loved and most photographed bridges in Vermont. It takes its name from the village green that it overlooks.

The bridge spans the Batten Kill trout stream in Arlington, just off Route 313 in southern Vermont. Although it stretches 80 feet across the stream, the bridge’s roadbed is only wide enough to allow one lane of traffic to rumble over its wooden planks at a time. The white steeple of the Chapel on the Green rises above the far end of the bridge, and just beyond stands a farmhouse where American artist Norman Rockwell lived and worked from 1943 to 1953.

The Arlington Green Bridge is constructed from wooden planks and timbers, using the lattice truss design patented by architect Ithiel Town in 1820. Five rectangular windows ornament each side of the structure. According to local tradition, the bridge’s sturdiness was demonstrated shortly after it was built when it was swept off its abutments by a flood and came to rest on its side, still spanning the stream. People walked across the flat side of the bridge until it could be righted. Because the bridge was too heavy to be shifted in one piece, it had to be disassembled and rebuilt in its proper place, where it stands today.

We love how artist Dan Cosgrove somehow managed to create an illustration of the bridge that is both modern and retro. What do you think?

The Arlington Green Bridge stamp is available in sheets of 10 self-adhesive stamps, blocks of 4 self-adhesive stamps, or singly.