The Old Covered Bridge
Mr. Griffin fiiiyfi that at one tine there were
more than a hundred in Rutherford County,
where ht‘ lives. Today there isn't a single
one left. Only a few remain elsc*wliere in
the states
A FAVORITE subject of Ameri¬
can artists is the old covered
bridge that in years gone by
spanned many a stream. The cov¬
ered bridge, with its mysterious,
cavernous interior, its weathered
sides and beams, and the surround¬
ing of winding road and rocky
stream lent itself perfectly to por¬
trayal of the American scene.
It is doubtful if any of the pres¬
ent generation of youngsters in
most of the communities of the
state, have ever seen a covered
bridge.
Effective Construction
Early settlers in this country had
little iron or steel. A wooden
bridge was the best solution to
crossing a rocky mountain stream,
or a shallow one on which a ferry
could not operate. The age-old
principle of triangular construc¬
tion was used, sturdy beams being
used to make a lattice¬
like girder that was
immovable, light and
almost as strong as
steel. The oak beams
were pegged together
with ash or hickory
pegs. The floor, the
roof, and the sides
were all made of sea¬
soned lumber. The
whole was a weather¬
proof structure that
defied rot and age.
Seldom more than
eight or ten-feet wide,
only one vehicle could
cross at a time. The
sides of the bridge ob¬
structed a view of the
tumbling stream, and
a skittish horse would
cross the bridge in
safety and without
becoming alarmed.
With the advent of the
automobile, the width
of the bridge was in¬
sufficient in most in-
the STATE. August 10. 1946
«!/
CLARENCE W. GRIFFIN
stances to accommodate the traffic.
The covered bridges were built
in a manner to preserve the struc¬
ture. Nearly all of them were built
in a day when road-making was in
its infancy, and maintaining roads
and bridges was the duty of the
citizens of the community and not
of the state.
There was a time when there
were more than one hundred cov¬
ered bridges in Rutherford County.
Today there isn't a single one
standing, and according to State
Highway Commissioner T. Max
Watson, of Forest City, there isn't
a covered bridge in his entire high¬
way district of ten counties. The
last one, located in Polk County
and near the Rutherford County
line, was torn down three or four
years ago. Mr. Watson further
states that very few remain today
in North Carolina, and none on the
main traveled arteries of the State
highway system. A few may re¬
main in some of the counties in the
central part of the state, he says,
but they arc on secondary roads.
Occasionally some remote section
of a road in some central county is
incorporated into the highway sys¬
tem. on which there is a covered
bridge. In that event there is
usually a demand from the people
of that locality to preserve the
bridge as an historical landmark,
says Mr. Watson. Thus far. none
have been designated or set aside
for that purpose.
A news report recently stated
that a New England state historical
society had acquired a covered
bridge as a museum piece, and
that it would be placed on perma¬
nent exhibition. This appears to
be a good idea, since covered
bridges have about disappeared,
and before many more years steel
girders and concrete pillars will
have displaced the
oaken thews and hick¬
ory pegs that have
made the structure a
masterpiece for light
but strong construc¬
tion.
Value to Art
New England pos¬
terity will no doubt
cherish this bit of
early American archi¬
tecture. In art gal¬
leries one may see
covered bridges in
those same New Eng¬
land states, with plod¬
ding horses blowing
cold vapor as they pull
snow sledges along
the icy river road near
the entrances. Pic¬
tures painted in the
South may show a
covered bridge shad¬
owed by live oaks and
nish moss,
same tex-
on /hi ye 26 )
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