Old Bridges

[hdspyder]

A couple of Saturdays ago the wife and I decided to take a little ryde. We headed west going to Chimney Rock then took Rt.64 west into Hendersonville. After having lunch at Mike’s on Main we took a southern course and picked up Hwy 25 going towards Greenville SC.


At the Jct of Hwy 11 we went east on 11 which is also the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway. As we came to the Poinsett Heritage Preserve we took a left onto Old State Hwy 11 we were headed to see a 183 year old bridge, the bridge is on Callahan Mountain Rd.

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The Poinsett Bridge was built in 1820 and is believed to be the oldest surviving bridge in South Carolina. It is a 14 foot Gothic arch stone structure and stretches 130 feet over Little Gap Creek. Named after Joel Poinsett, a prominent early resident of Greenville and a U.S. ambassador to Mexico, the bridge was part of the State Road that connected Charleston and Columbia with the North Carolina mountain communities into Tennessee.

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The poinsettia flower was also named for him when he introduced it to the United States from Mexico.

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About ten miles further east Hwy 14 intersects Hwy 11 at Gowensville. We turned right on 14, after about 5 miles we came to the sign for Campbell Covered Bridge on the right.

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Turn right onto 414 and follow the signs. Greenville County owns the property now and has done a very nice job of creating a nice park with picnic tables.

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Constructed in 1909 Campbell’s Covered Bridge is the only remaining covered bridge in the State of South Carolina. The 38 foot long, 12 foot wide pine structure that spans Beaverdam Creek was constructed in the relatively rare four-span, Howe truss design and features vertical iron rods and diagonal pine timbers.


　

This was another of many day trips with interesting stops with lots of local history and good food. Enjoy the ryde!

[Chupaca]

ryde. Love history and antiques, old covered bridges are amazing sights. Thanks for the photos...

[chuck gross]

really nice piece of American history and a great place to ryde thanks for sharing

[ARtraveler]

Beautiful, classic roads for driving.