Patrick County’s Covered Bridges

Jack Creek’s Covered Bridge (Courtesy of Ed Camin http://www.ed-camin.com)

Other photos on this page are Courtesy of Jeannie Frisco and Steve Pierce

Third Annual Patrick County Covered Bridge Festival,   June 16, 2007, in Woolwine

Bob White Covered Bridge

Patrick County’s Covered Bridges

    Walter G. Weaver of Woolwine, Virginia, liked to design and build bridges. In fact, the saw miller, blacksmith and carpenter liked to do almost anything with wood whether it was bridges or coffins. When he died in 1948 there were four bridges in Patrick County that he had designed or built still standing. Two were over Rock Castle Creek, one where Route 40 passes over the stream and another on Widgeon Road. While neither of them is standing today, two other of Weaver’s bridges still stand, two of the seven original covered bridges in Virginia.

    Charlie Vaughan of Buffalo Ridge built the Jack’s Creek Covered Bridge in 1914. Walter Weaver designed and Peter C. Brammer roofed the structure. The bridge is 48 feet long and 13 feet wide and sits near Route 615 two miles south of Woolwine just off Route 8. It served Jack’s Creek Primitive Baptist Church until a modern bridge replaced it in 1932. In 1969, the Woolwine Ruritan Club raised money for repairs, painting and roofing material. In 1973, the Patrick County Board of Supervisors took action to save the bridge getting a matching grant from the Virginia Landmarks Commission to restore the bridge.

    Weaver designed and built the Bob White Covered Bridge in 1921. Named for the Bob White Post Office and a quail, whose call sounds like “Bob White.” The bridge was in service for the Smith River Church of the Brethren on Route 708 until 1981 when a new road was built. Patrick County took responsibility for the structure that same year. The bridge has two spans and is 80 foot long with concrete abutments at the end and a solid concrete pier in the center. Visitors can reach the bridge by taking Route 618 1 ½ half miles south of Woolwine off Route 8 and then to Route 869. The bridge's trademark arundo grass grows around the bridge in the summer.

    Both of Patrick County's Covered Bridges were placed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Patrick County's government administers the bridges.

Jack’s Creek Covered Bridge

Virginia’s Other Covered

    Giles County has three covered bridges crossing Sinking Creek. The C. K. Reynolds Bridge and Link’s Farm (Bradley) Bridge are on private land. Maintained by the county and spanning 70 feet, the Sinking Creek (Clover Hollow) Bridge a modified Howe truss was built circa 1916. Rockingham County has the privately owned Biedler Farm Bridge over Smith Creek.

    Allegheny County claims Virginia’s oldest covered bridge with the Humpback Bridge over Dunlap Creek. The third bridge located at the site west of Covington built in 1857 was part of the James River and Kanawha Turnpike. The 100 foot span is four feet higher in the center and carried traffic until 1929. In 1954, the Business and Professional Women’s Club of Covington and the Covington Chamber of Commerce restored and preserved the bridge. It is located off exit 10 on I-64 on Highway 60

    Shenandoah County is home to the 204 foot Meem’s Bottom Bridge over the north fork of the Shenandoah River. Arsonist burned the original bridge on Halloween 1976. Reconstruction from the salvaged timbers with steel beams and concrete piers soon followed. Built in 1894, this bridge is  located off exit 269 from I-81 near New Market.

Covered Bridge Society Of Virginia

COVERED BRIDGE SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA, INC.
4114 Forrest hills Drive, Portsmouth, Va. 23703 phone 757-484-4404

www.CBSVA.org

Links

Virginia Department of Transportation

http://www.virginiadot.org/infoservice/faq-covbridge3.asp

http://www.virginiadot.org/infoservice/faq-covbridge2.asp

Patrick County Covered Bridges

http://blueridgemtns.net/bridges/bridges.htm

http://www.patrickchamber.com/profile.cfm?ID=171

http://www.patrickchamber.com/profile.cfm?ID=165

Virginia Covered Bridges

http://www.dalejtravis.com/bridge/bridgeva.htm

http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/va/vacb.html

Covered Bridges in Virginia, Nine Old Ladies in the Slow Lane

Covered Bridges in Virginia, Nine Old Ladies in the Slow Lane.

It is 81/2 X 11 and all glossy and color.  264 pages. 

If ordered from us, it is $74.00 and no shipping or handling. 

We will send an autographed copy signed by her and myself.

Phone   757-484-4404

VaBridgeLady@aol.com

Copyright 2006 Tom Perry. 

No material to be used without permission. 

Contact Information: P. O. Box 50 Ararat VA 24053

freestateofpatrick@yahoo.com