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Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

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Union, Monroe County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: MO/25-69-02
County: Monroe County
Township:
Town/Village: Paris
Bridge Name: Union
Crosses: Elk Fork Salt River
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1
Length: 125'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1871
Builder: Joseph C. Elliott
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N39 25.972
Longitude: W092 06.151
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 6.0 miles west of jct MO15 on US24, then 3.5 miles left on CR C and 0.3 miles right on State Spur C.

Union Bridge, Paris, Monroe County, MO Built 1871
Bob Hamilton Photograph

Union Bridge, Paris, Monroe County, MO Built 1871
September 1968 Photo, Palmer Werner Collection

Union Bridge, Paris, Monroe County, MO Built 1871
Richard E. Roy Collection, April 13, 1958 Photo, NSPCB Archives

Union Bridge, Paris, Monroe County, MO Built 1871
Bill & Jenn Caswell Photo, September 1, 2018

Comments:
The bridge was built by Joseph C. Elliott (incorrectly listed as Robert Elliot in a March 1951 Topics article) of Payson, Illinois, using local oak. The structure nearly succumbed to neglect in the late 1960s, but was restored in 1968 after the Missouri Legislature passed a bill authorizing the Missouri State Park Board to take possession of, repair and preserve the five remaining covered bridges in the state. The bridge was partially restored using materials from the Mexico Covered Bridge, which had been destroyed by floods shortly after the state took possession of it. Two years later, the bridge was closed to all but pedestrian traffic after overweight trucks damaged its structural timbers. That same year, it was officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places. A second restoration of the bridge was completed in 1988, replacing rotted support timbers and warped siding and repairing failed joints. The bridge was named after the nearby Union Church.

Sources:
Missouri Historical Review, Volume LXI, number 2, January 1967, page 231
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XLVIII, No. 1, Winter 1990, pages 8-11
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume LXXII, No. 3, Summer 2014, page 6
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XV, No. 2, July 1957, page 4
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 43

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