An excerpt from History of Dracut by Silas R. Coburn (Courier Citizen, 1922), retrieved from archive.org. The first paragraph below is a quote from a chapter by Mary E. Wight in The Lowell Book (George H. Ellis, 1899). The postcard of the Central Bridge is from 1908.---PM

. . .

The Toll House at Central Bridge 

" 'Where Varnum Park now is, stood at the end of the dismal covered bridge of the period, the toll house, which is hardly historical, but was the place of more than common interest and of distinct individuality. Many people will remember it, and also the sprightly lady who sometimes presided over the till — clean, crisp and of unbounded hospitality. There were hoodlums then as well as now; but no hoodlum who measured 
swords with her ever left the field without a scratch. On a Saturday afternoon, the great field day of country people, every inch of space belonging to the toll house was occupied by 
vehicles, with horses sleepily enjoying an unwonted holiday or luxuriously toying with their nose bags while the owners were over to Lowell trading. I can see them now, as they come trail-ing one by one wearily across the bridge, bearing their sheaves with them. The toll house was to the people of Dracut what a modern men's club house is today — a choice bit of gossip flying through the air was sure to find lodgement and circulation. The Boston Daily was passed from hand to hand, and contents noted, and lost, strayed or stolen conveniently posted. 
But when the bridge became free in 1850, the toll house was no longer needed and its star went out.' (Mary E. Wight in The Lowell Book). 

"The last toll keeper was a man whose name was Spaalding, and who through an accident had lost one of his lower limbs. What a contrast between those times when the toll man could leisurely collect his money, unfasten and swing back the gate which reached across the street, and have time for an interchange of views on the political situation after which the team entering the bridge he returned leisurely to the office before his services would again be required, a contrast when we consider the almost uninterrupted stream of vehicles, street cars and pedestrians which now daily pass over this bridge."
. . . .
---Silas R. Coburn (1922)