King Bridge of Coosa County
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Porch Talk
Coosa County Stories
Coosa County Historical Society
Note: The following was originally written in 1998 by a Ronald D. Bridges and appeared in the Historical Society’s newsletter in 2013. We thought it would be of interest to share in our monthly column.
King Bridge: This bridge was so named to honor the King family, and at the time it was built, Mr. J. P. and Mr. Warner King lived not far from the site. We are not sure whether the county authorities meant to honor both families or not. Whether the name was given to one or both, in the mind of the writer
both families contributed enough to the community to be entitled to a share of the honor.
At the time this bridge was built, it was one of the earliest steel bridges of the state, and certainly it was the highest bridge of Coosa County. It was built about 1908 and was constructed to carry water above
the 1886 Fresh, the highest water flow on record for Hatchett Creek. The gauge for the height of the bridge was a tree marked by Mr. J. P. about 100 feet up creek from the bridge site.
This bridge still stands, so that its life to date is approximately 60 years. The wood flooring has been repaired and replaced a number of times, but the steel framework and cylinder steel supports still stand.
We cannot refrain from pointing out some of the services of this bridge.
It was over this bridge that heavy flowed for a long period; it served not only Flint Hill, but Weogufka, Unity, Marble Valley, and Quincy. The route was the shortest from outlying areas of Northwest Coosa to Rockford, the county seat.
Before leaving the subject of the bridge, C. C. King of Birmingham give sme the following remarks: “I talked with one of Will Hayes’ boys a few years ago. Will Hayes was the little man who was lowered to the bottom of those big cylinders to properly place the concrete.”
There were four of these cylinders filled with concrete; they were about 36 to 40 inches in diameter and approximately 30 feet in length. To have been lowered to that depth in a 3-foot pipe must have been quite a feat. As the writer recalls, Mr. Hayes was a small man, but was unusually well-muscled and very strong.
Another point of interest in regard to the building of the bridge was the transporting by drays or wagons, the 30-foot steel cylinders and the 8-inch steel beams. It is the writer’s understanding that this part of the job was done by Mr. Hugh Jacobs and Mr. Joe Jacobs of Hanover community.
When we recall that the road from either end was narrow and crooked, we now wonder how the heavy, long cylinders and the long steel beams could have been hauled. It will be remembered that all of this was long before the day of bulldozers, tractors, etc. All honor to those who built so well.
Note: Mr. C. C. King; 715 Republic Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama; informs the writer that the first bridge (a wooden bridge) was built by Mr. Bob King Sr., father of Messrs. J. P. and H. W. King, and that it became known as King Bridge by people of the community. Mr. Bob King Sr. lived for a time
a short distance from the bridge. Mr. C. C. King also states that a descendant of Mr. Bob King, who lives near Shreveport, Louisiana, has in his possession the hammer by Mr. Bob King in building the bridge.
