TRAVEL
Take cover. These ‘kissing bridges’ stand as relics of roads once traveled
1 | Auchumpkee Creek Covered Bridge, Upson County
Travels with Charlie
2 | Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge, Early County 3 | Poole’s Covered Bridge, Forsyth County
Veteran Georgia journalist Charles Seabrook has covered native wildlife and environmental issues for decades. For “Travels with Charlie,” he visits and photographs communities throughout the state. Before 1900, Georgia was dotted with more than 250 covered bridges that spanned rivers and streams and sometimes deep ravines. Today, fewer than 20 of the aging, historic structures remain — all picturesque. Several are listed on the National Register of Historic places. Preservationists have made heroic efforts to save the remaining covered bridges, refurbishing, repairing, and shoring them up, but retaining their historic features. Some bridges still accommodate highway traffic — like the Concord Covered Bridge (c. 1872) in Cobb County that supports a steady flow of vehicles on busy Concord Road over Nickajack Creek. Cars also still ply Georgia’s longest covered bridge, the Watson Mill Bridge spanning the Broad River between Madison and Oglethorpe counties. Built In 1885, the 229-foot-long bridge was restored by the state Department of Transportation using antique tools — and is now the central attraction of Watson Bridge State Park. Most of Georgia’s remaining covered bridges still stand at their original locations, but Continued on page 14
4 | Coheelee Creek Covered Bridge, Early County 5 | Watson Mill Covered Bridge, Madison County 6 | Elder Mill Covered Bridge, Oconee County 1
7 | Elder Mill Covered Bridge, Oconee County
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FEBRUARY 2022 | AtlantaSeniorLife.com
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