The Backroads Traveler: Two More Covered Bridges

 The Auchumpkee Creek Covered Bridge, Upson County, Georgia.

 About twelve miles south of Thomaston and a mile or so off U.S. Highway 19 is the Auchumpkee Creek Covered Bridge. Built in 1892 by the firm of Herring and Alford, the bridge is 96 feet long and uses the Town lattice truss design.

After being destroyed by a flood in 1994, the bridge was rebuilt on the creek bank in 1997 by Arnold Graton of New Hampshire, who used a team of horses to pull the restored bridge into its place over the creek. It is no longer open to traffic, but parking and a picnic area are available at the bridge.

The Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge, Meriwether County, Georgia.

 

Going south from Fayetteville on Georgia Highway 85 (one of the state's more interesting highways), turn left on Covered Bridge Road for about a mile to Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge. Dating to the 1840s, this is Georgia’s oldest covered bridge and is one of the few still in use. At 391 feet, it is also the longest, if one includes the approaches. The covered portion is about 140 feet long, using Town lattice construction with criss-crossed planks held together by approximately 2,500 wooden pegs. It was built by the legendary Horace King, a freed slave and master bridge builder. At one time, much of the traffic in the Deep South crossed its streams on bridges built by King, but time moves on, and the Red Oak Creek bridge is the last one of King's bridges still in use.

 

(Adapted from my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia.)

 

Photos: The Auchumpkee Creek bridge was photographed with a Canon EOS 6D camera with the Canon EF 28-105mm lens. For the Red Oak Creek bridge I used an Olympus E-M5 with the Panasonic Lumix G-Vario 12-32mm lens. Both cameras are digital.

 

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Photography and text copyright 2024 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography   digital photography   Georgia     Canon EOS 6D camera     Canon EF 28-105mm lens     travel photography     Panasonic Lumix G-Vario 12-32mm lens     Olympus E-M5 camera     covered bridges