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Gauley River, Fayette County

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Inventory Number: wv/48-10-01#2x
County: Fayette County
Township:
Town/Village: Gauley Bridge
Bridge Name: Gauley River
Crosses: Gauley River
Truss type: Long & Arch
Spans: 4
Length: 480'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1850
Builder:
When Lost: 27 Jul 1861
Cause: Burned
Latitude: N38 09.83
Longitude: W081 11.70
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Topographic map of the area
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Gauley River Bridge, Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, WV Built 1850 Burned 27 Jul 1861
Elna Johnson Collection

Gauley River Bridge, Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, WV Built 1850 Burned 27 Jul 1861
Todd Clark Collection

Comments:
The first covered bridge at this site was built for the James River and Kanawha Turnpike at a cost of $18,000. Ferry owners along the river protested the bridge's construction. On July 11, 1826, it was destroyed by a fire that was attributed to "persons interested in establishing a ferry at that point." A story about the crossing in The Daily Review of Clifton Forge, Virginia on February 21, 1925, stated that a second covered bridge was built in 1828 and burned in 1848. A replacement covered bridge was built in 1850. On July 27, 1861, the bridge was dynamited and burned by retreating Confederate forces led by Captain Joel Abbot. It included four windows and was painted white.

Sources:
Auvil, Myrtle. Covered Bridges of West Virginia Past & Present, 1973, page 133
Cohen, Stan. West Virginia's Covered Bridges, 1992, page 87
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXXIV, No. 3, Summer 1976, page 11

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