Living Jackson Magazine

Bridges of Jackson County
A Photographic Essay By Shannon Jackson
Story by Caine Campbell

In its earliest days, Jackson County was a land of small farms.
Numerous small farms had to be connected with a web of roads.
Numerous roads traversing the many rivers and creeks in the county required numerous bridges.
We live in the modern present but in conditions steeped in the centuries that have passed.
We live in a county of 131 bridges!

The Bridge to Nowhere
Near Talmo, years ago, the route of U.S. 129 was changed. A new bridge was built. The old one was abandoned. After all these years the concrete span remains intact, sitting on Wayne and Jill Miller’s Talmo Farm within sight of the busy highway. It is called “The Bridge to Nowhere,” but it really does go somewhere, when you think about it. It goes to a
pasture. Across it go cattle, from one pasture to another.

Larry Guthrie is general road superintendent in the Public Works Department of Jackson County. Of the county’s 131 bridges, Guthrie is responsible for 69 on county roads. There are 62 bridges on state roads and 13 “bridges”—overpasses—on Interstate 85.

The White Bridge
At the mere sniff of a suggestion that this bridge would be affected by re-routing traffic, longtime residents of Jefferson were incensed. Some citizens admire this bridge out of town toward Commerce, which spans Curry Creek on State Route 15 at Danielsville Street. You might say they revere it. “The White Bridge,” officially called the Curry Creek Bridge in the Library of Congress’ list of historic structures, is a remaining example of a style of bridge architecture of a past era.

The concrete arch bridge was built in 1926 and is one of 37 in the state of Georgia. It is the only one in Jackson County. For many years, it was painted a sparkling white, which is how it got its local name. The bridge is planned to be part of a renovation of the east gateway of Jefferson, and the Jefferson Rotary Club is working with the city on creating a park and walking trail featuring the bridge.

In the foreground is a pedestrian bridge in the city park. By the way, working with Larry Guthrie is a man with a name for the job—Jeff Bridges, assistant road superintendent.

To cross the river just above Hurricane Shoals, early settlers built a covered bridge in 1882. It spanned 127 feet and cost $1,443.
Recently rebuilt to connect two sectors of a Jackson County park, the new covered bridge was dedicated September 22, 2002.

The reconstruction of the covered bridge, a 26-year endeavor, was a crowning achievement for Jackson County Commission Chair Pat Bell, who was an integral force in the entire refurbishment of Hurricane Shoals County Park.

“If it hadn’t been for her and Mr. Robinson, we would never have gotten that covered bridge built,” said the late Hughlee Culpepper, caretaker of the park for more than a decade before he passed in 2004. “She’ll be modest and say it was lots of people, but she led that thing all the way.”

The WPA Bridge
Truth be told, the Works Progress Administration was long-gone and Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in his grave when this bridge was built, but it looks like a W.P.A. bridge. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ’em all! No matter which state they were built in, they all looked alike. Maybe somebody saved a copy of the plans. This bridge is on U.S. 129 on the way to Gainesville. There are several bridges of this type in Jackson County.

A staff member with a keen interest in bridges is Brenda Adams, who manages the office of the Jackson County Roads and Bridges Department.

The Smith Overhead Bridge
After crossing “The White Bridge,” you immediately take a sharp right to go to Nicholson. There you take a left on U.S. 441. After a mile and a half you take a left on Smith Overhead Bridge Road, which leads…
you guessed it! …to Smith Overhead Bridge.

The Forgotten Bridge
Throughout most of the states of the Union, there is a huge backlog of highway infrastructure maintenance waiting upon the expenditure of billions of dollars just to catch up. Jackson County is fortunate to be an exception. Repairs are needed on only three bridges on major county roads, plus one on a minor road. SPLOST has helped keep repairs current, with matching funds from Georgia Department of Transportation.

County crews do maintenance and repairs; rebuilding would be contracted. Jeff Bridges,
assistant road superintendent, sees that crews have materials required and carry out the assigned maintenance.

No one, however, has ever asked Superintendent Guthrie to rebuild “The Forgotten Bridge.” It used to span the Mulberry River at the Jackson/Barrow County Line, and gave its name to the road that crossed it—Moons Bridge Road. It collapsed decades ago, and only this huge concrete abutment remains. Maybe the folks on both sides of the river are content that there is no through traffic, and that’s why they don’t seek restoration—that’s why it has become “The Forgotten Bridge.”