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Beautiful Covered Bridges of the South

Twenty-three of the South’s most picturesque covered bridges
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ALABAMA
The Alamuchee-Bellamy covered bridge was built in 1861 and is in Livingston.

Photo: COURTESY ALABAMA TOURIISM DEPARTMENT

ALABAMA
The Kymulga covered bridge, in Childersburg, was built in 1864.

Photo: TOM STARKEY

ALABAMA
The Swann covered bridge was built in 1933 and is in Cleveland.

Photo: TOM STARKEY

ARKANSAS
Ponca, Arkansas’s bridge over a stream in the Buffalo National River area.

Photo: COURTESY OF ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND TOURISM

GEORGIA
The Big Red Oak Creek bridge near Woodbury stretches 391 feet, making it the longest wooden bridge in Georgia.

Photo: COURTESY OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

GEORGIA
Built in 1897, Elder Mill Covered bridge overlooks Rose Creek in Watkinsville.

Photo: COURTESY OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

GEORGIA
Local bridge builder Dr. J. W. Herring and his company, Herring and Alford, built Upson County’s Auchumpkee Creek covered bridge in 1892.

Photo: RANDY CLEGG

GEORGIA
Stovall Mill bridge goes by many names: Helen, Nacoochee, Chickamauga, or Sautee bridge. Built in 1895, it is Georgia’s smallest covered bridge and is located in White County, near Helen.

Photo: COURTESY OF ALPINE HELEN-WHITE COUNTY CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU

GEORGIA
Watson Mill Covered bridge in Comer was built in 1885 by Washington W. King in a “Town Lattice” design. It crosses the south fork of the Broad River.

Photo: COURTESY OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

KENTUCKY
The early 19th century Goddard covered bridge located southeast of Flemingsburg is the only surviving example of Ithiel Town Lattice design in Kentucky. The timbers are joined with wooden pegs.

Photo: COURTESY OF KENTUCKYTOURISM.COM

KENTUCKY
Switzer covered bridge is a 120-foot long Howe Truss design in Frankfort near Elkhorn Creek. It was constructed in 1855 and totally restored after damage from a flood in 1997.

Photo: COURTESY OF KENTUCKYTOURISM.COM

MARYLAND
First constructed around 1880, the Loy’s Station covered bridge near Thurmont has been modified and rebuilt but still contains its original timbers.

 

Photo: COURTESY OF MARYLAND OFFICE OF TOURISM

MISSOURI
Burfordville covered bridge in southern Missouri is the oldest remaining covered bridge in the state. Joseph Lansmon began its construction in 1858, but it is unclear if the bridge was completed before or after the Civil War. Bollinger Mill is located next to the bridge.

Photo: COURTESY MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM

NORTH CAROLINA
Bunker Hill covered bridge over Lyles Creek in Claremont was built in 1895.

Photo: COURTESY OF VISITNC.COM

NORTH CAROLINA
The covered bridge at High Falls in DuPont State Recreational Forest near Brevard was built in 2000.

 

Photo: COURTESY OF VISITNC.COM

NORTH CAROLINA
A bridge in Jackson County off Highway 107.

 

Photo: COURTESY OF VISITNC.COM

NORTH CAROLINA
The Pisgah covered bridge, built in 1911, crosses the West Branch Fork of the Little River in the Uwharrie National Forest.

 

Photo: COURTESY OF VISITNC.COM

SOUTH CAROLINA
Campbell’s covered bridge in Gowensville was built in 1909. The pine structure measures 35 feet long and 12 feet wide and features a four-span Howe truss system with diagonal timbers and vertical iron rods.

 

Photo: COURTESY OF DISCOVERSOUTHCAROLINA.COM

TENNESSEE
Doe River covered bridge in Elizabethton is a white clapboard bridge built in 1882.

Photo: COURTESY OF TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF TOURIST DEVELOPMENT

VIRGINIA
Sinking Creek bridge, a 70-foot-long red wooden bridge with a tin roof, was built in 1916 in Pearisburg.

 

Photo: COURTESY OF VIRGINIA TOURISM AUTHORITY

VIRGINIA
Covington’s Humpback Bridge is the only covered humpback bridge remaining in the United States. The bridge was constructed in 1857, and the design of the bridge, to be covered and arched, was to increase its longevity and keep the midpoint above flood waters.  The nearly 110-foot structure was built with a broad axe and put together with hand hewed locust pins.

 

Photo: COURTESY OF VIRGINIA TOURISM AUTHORITY

WEST VIRGINIA
The craftsmen who built Indian Creek covered bridge in Monroe County were only 16 and 18 years old at the time, in 1903. Now owned by the county historical society, the bridge is open to pedestrians and houses antique vehicles from the 1900s.

 

Photo: COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA TOURISM OFFICE

WEST VIRGINIA
The Philippi covered bridge was built in 1852 across the Tygart River. It was the site of the first land battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Philippi. After a Union victory, the bridge was used as a barracks. It has withstood floods and fire, and has been carefully restored. Today, it is the only covered bridge serving the U.S. Federal Highway System (U.S. 250).

 

Photo: COURTESY OF WEST VIRGINIA TOURISM OFFICE