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Wehadkee Creek or Callaway Gardens, Harris County

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Inventory Number: GA/10-72-01x
TLF Number: 10F
County: Harris County
Township:
Town/Village: Pine Mountain
Bridge Name: Wehadkee Creek or Callaway Gardens
Crosses:
Truss type: Town
Spans: 1
Length: 58'
Roadway Width:
Built: c1870 (M1965)
Builder: George King
When Lost: Feb 2022
Cause: Moved
Latitude: N32 49.201
Longitude: W084 52.092
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 1.0 miles south of jct GA18 on west side of US27 before being placed in storage.

Wehadkee Creek Bridge, Pine Mountain, Harris County, GA. Built c1870 (M1965)
Elna Johnson Collection

Comments:
In 1873, Horace King built a bridge to carry Harmony Church Road over the Wehadkee Creek at Cofield’s Mill in Troup County. This was likely a Town lattice covered bridge as that was King’s usual plan. The bridge was destroyed by a flash flood in 1886, a year after King died. In 1890, King’s son George constructed a Town lattice truss bridge at that location which was listed in early World Guide’s as 10-141-02. Construction of the West Point Dam would have left the bridge underwater. Troup County Commissioners donated the structure to Callaway Gardens. On August 15, 1965, the 60' central section of the bridge was moved about 30 miles to its new home. The original timbers and siding were used, but a new wood shingle roof and portals were provided. At that location it was assigned World Guide number GA/10-72-01. At Calloway Gardens, the bridge was open to the public for many years. It was relocated to make room for construction of the John A. Sibley Horticultural Center. It was moved to a field in an area no longer accessible to the public where it was essentially abandoned. Even though it was left unmaintained for many years, the skeleton of the bridge was still in good condition. In February 2022, the structure was dismantled and moved back to Troup County where it has been rebuilt next to Horace King’s grave in the Mulberry Street Cemetery. The truss structure was reconstructed on top of a steel base with a new roof and siding added. It will be incorporated into “The Thread”, a planned 30-mile-long walking trail through the city which started construction in 2017.

Sources:
Research notes of Thomas L. French, Jr. as of April 1, 2015
http://www.gadoodles.com/images/History/CallawayGardensBridge.htm
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXXVI, No. 3, Summer 1978, page 4
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXV, No. 3, October 1967, page 7
Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Society of Pennsylvania. Portals, Volume 6, number 3 (September 1966), page 9
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2009, page 9

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