Meem's
Bottom Bridge
North Fork, Shenandoah River, Shenandoah County, Virginia
#NC-03120-CB - Notecards
Also available in Assortment Packs #AST-304
and #AST-3VA
#PR-03120-CB - Open Edition Print
Also included in unmatted Print Set #PST-304
Built in
1894, this well-known covered bridge carried traffic for more
than 80 years before being burned by vandals on Halloween 1976.
After the original timbers were salvaged, the bridge was reconstructed
and eventually undergirded with steel beams and concrete piers.
That wasn't
the first time a bridge crossing the river at this spot was burned.
In 1862, Confederate General Stonewall Jackson torched a bridge
here to stall Union General John C. Fremont before the battles
of Harrisonburg, Cross Key and Port Republic. A flood washed away
another bridge in 1870.
The 204-foot
single-span Burr arch truss was named after the Meem family that
owned the Strathmore estate west of the Shenandoah River. The
bridge was constructed from materials cut and quarried nearby
for the massive arch supports and stone abutments, which extended
10 feet below the river bed.
You can reach
the bridge easily from I-81 at exit 269 between New Market and
Mount Jackson, following Route 730 from the interchange four-tenths
of a mile to Route 11, then north on Route 11 nine-tenths of a
mile to Route 720 and west a short distance to the river. The
bridge also can be reached on Route 11 four miles north of New
Market and two miles south of Mount Jackson.
Text
© 1999 Terry White, Drawing © 1999 Bill Harrah
.
. . COVERED BRIDGES . . .
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