St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • B6

B6 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 1 SUnDAy 07.04.2021 Sandy Creek Covered Bridge The red covered bridge crossing Sandy Creek north of Hillsboro in Jefferson County is a pretty popular spot for weddings, to say the least. every wedding where someone calls in and says, can we get three or four show up on their said Ken Smith, superintendent of the site. gets crazy out The state even added an over- flow parking lot last year, which helped accommodate the grow- ing crowds not just attracted to the bridge, but to the sand and gravel-bottomed water ideal for swimming with kids. In 2020, when many public pools shut down because of the pandemic, more than 214,000 people visited the site, a 14 percent increase from the year before.

The covered bridge was built in 1872 as part of a countywide building program after the Civil War. Five other covered bridges were built on the Hillsboro and Lemay Ferry gravel road, which connected St. Louis County with Hillsboro, the Jefferson County seat. The original bridge cost $2,000 to build, but a spring flood destroyed it 14 years later. Enough of the bridge remained for work- ers to rebuild it for $899.

The bridge carried vehicu- lar traffic until 1981, when it was damaged by flooding. The state made more repairs, and it reopened in 1984 to foot traffic. About eight years ago, the state had to put new siding on the bridge because of vandalism. had become kind of a public art said Smith. Workers installed a security system, added a graffiti-resistant coating and put on a new roof.

seen pictures of it where it was leaning sideways, and just like, oh, surprised still replacing some sid- ing this year because of normal wear and tear. He added that a caretaker there does a great job of maintaining the grounds and keeping an eye on things. a beautiful he said. WHERE 9090 Old Lemay Ferry Road, Hill- sboro MORE INFO mostateparks.com/ historic-site Burfordville Covered Bridge difficult to choose more picturesque: the cov- ered bridge crossing the Upper Whitewater Creek, or the huge four-story mill with its limestone foundation jutting into the water. an impressive backdrop for family and special occasion pho- tos.

been a leisurely gather- ing spot for years: The site has pictures of picnics that took place here 100 years or so ago, with a slide jutting out and over the water. The area itself is called the Bollinger Mill State Historic Site. in Burfordville, in southeast Missouri. The mill predates the covered bridge, where the stone abutments date from 1857. The Civil War halted construction for a bit, but the bridge was completed in 1867, making it the oldest.

Cape Girardeau builder Joseph Lansmon built it mainly from yellow poplar. The road was part of the toll road system that connected Burfordville, Jackson and Cape Girardeau, but in the early 1900s frustrated farmers got sick of paying the toll and tore the toll booth down, site interpreter Holly Rohr said with a laugh. Cars were able to cross it until 1986. A bad flood that year shifted the east end of the bridge just slightly off its abutment, and after restoration the state decided to close it to vehicles. have a lot of people who remember riding the school bus across she said.

Crossing the bridge by foot allows you to inhale the tarry scent of the treated wood and see if you can spy historic graffiti: Someone with the initials F.P. carved their mark in a joist in the year 1934. Inside the mill, you can see the turbine and shafts that climb all the way up to a fourth floor, powered by the rushing water that flows through the building below. Keep an eye out for a black and white cat who lives in the mill and has her own room upstairs. The name? Flour.

WHERE 113 Bollinger Mill Road, Burford- ville, Missouri MORE INFO mostateparks. site (check before going; the historic site may be temporarily closed due to construction) Union Covered Bridge The Union Covered Bridge in northern Missouri stands out as the only one in the state with the Burr-arch truss system, which uses a series of vertical kingposts and an arch to support the truss. The Union bridge, built in 1871 from local oak, has two arches on each side instead of one. Brett Barnes, a deputy regional manager for the northern region of the parks department, said the unique design draws cov- ered bridge enthusiasts. are people that kind of travel the country and mark bridges off their bucket he said.

neat when you run into them. Most of the time, they can tell you more about the bridge than what our staff The design is named after the man who created it, Theo- dore Burr, known as the father of American bridge building. More than half of the 93 covered bridges in the state of Indiana have this design. The others in Missouri use the Howe Truss design, named for its creator, Elias Howe. The Howe system is a bit more updated, using vertical iron rods as braces while wood was used on the diagonal.

The 120-foot-long bridge crosses the Elk Fork of the Salt River and is named for the Union Church that was nearby. The bridge was nearly lost to neglect in the late 1960s, but the state restored it shortly after lawmak- ers authorized the state parks to take over the five remain- ing bridges. Floods destroyed one of the bridges, the nearby Mexico covered bridge, but some timbers were used to restore the Union one. been restored a few times since then, the latest in 2019. Barnes said what he enjoys most about the covered bridge is that many locals, especially older ones, will visit the bridge with their grandkids and tell them stories about crossing the bridge or seeing it when they were younger.

really neat to be a part of preserving that history, and not just preserving the bridge by keeping the grass mowed and keeping the trash picked up, but keeping the memories WHERE 20700 Monroe County Road 962, Paris, Missouri MORE INFO mostateparks.com/park/ union-covered-bridge-state-historic-site Locust Creek Covered Bridge Imagine a young John J. Per- shing fishing and swimming in Locust Creek in north central Missouri, a freshly built covered bridge perched above him. Born in 1860, he went on to become the highest-ranking military com- mander, leading American forces to victory in World War I. Now, imagine a group of 20 soldiers from the 25th Infantry Regiment, called the Buffalo Sol- diers Bicycle Corps, who crossed the bridge in 1897 as part of their 1,900 mile ride from Fort Mis- soula, Montana, to St. Louis, in an effort to prove the effectiveness of moving soldiers by bicycle rather than by horse.

Now imagine time passing as the bridge sits on its footings as Locust Creek changes course and floodwater fills the bed with top- soil. For a time the bridge sat on land. But in 1991 the bridge was raised 6 feet to give the appear- ance of spanning a creek and to protect it from the ground. The fact that it crosses land attracts visitors from all over the world, said site administrator Heaney. of the time the substruc- ture he said of other bridges.

particular bridge, you can go underneath, and see how almost like a Tinker Toy set. You can see how all con- nected and At 151 feet, the bridge is the longest of the four remaining in Missouri. It was built in 1868 out of white pine. It served as a link along the main east-west road in northern Missouri and served the local community traveling between Laclede and Meadville. Just before World War it became part of Route 8, also known as the Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway.

You could travel all the way from San Francisco to New York. Route 36 eventually replaced Route 8, and the bridge became part of the local road sys- tem again. The state of Missouri plans to commemorate the 125th anni- versary of the Buffalo Soldiers Bicycle Corps ride in summer 2022, which will likely include a ride across the bridge and a celebration in the town square park of Laclede, Missouri, where the soldiers camped overnight. There will be reproduction bikes, said Heaney, but there is probably a reason the bicycle idea really catch on. of the wheels of bicycles were wooden no shocks or springs or anything like that.

why they call them the iron riders, Today the site is on the edge of Pershing State Park, where you can camp and hike, and just a bit more than six miles from the John J. Pershing Boyhood Home. You can walk through the gothic-style house and the grounds, which includes a statue of the general and a school building where he once taught. WHERE Linn County in north central Mis- souri, three miles west of Laclede on Dart Road MORE INFO mostateparks.com/ historic-site River Covered Bridge The cars and semi-trucks zoom up and down Illinois 150 just northeast of Chester, Illinois, a small highway bridge crossing the Little River. Just parallel to the zooming traffic sits the red covered bridge.

now a small roadside park with two picnic tables and a bathroom, and you can walk across the bridge and inch down the bank into the river, more like a large creek. When the highway traffic quiets, you can try to imagine the rattle of cars and carriages that once crossed the old bridge. This 90-foot-long bridge, in a Burr arch design, was built in 1854 and used until 1930. It was part of a planked toll road between Bremen and Chester, built to bring products like lumber, corn and wheat from Chester to boats on the Mississippi River. still a bit of road in Chester called the Old Plank Road, said Brenda Owen, the chair of the tourism commission.

A two-horse wagon cost 20 cents, a horse with a man on it five cents, and a larger group of animals one cent each, she said. kind of interesting imagin- ing a bunch of animals coming down she said. She brings groups from touring riverboats to the covered bridge site, many of which live around the world and have never seen such a thing. of them are very she said. The original hand-hewn white oak timbers remain, as well as the original stone abutments it rests on.

The floor, floor joists, roof and siding have been replaced. In 1930 the state of Illinois took it over, and a small parking lot was added for the roadside park. In 2004, it was raised above the 30-year flood mark to help protect it from flooding, because the Little river is a tributary of the mighty Mississippi. Another sign at the site notes that Lt. Col.

George Rogers Clark and his 180 soldiers camped out near here on July 3, 1778. They had come from Fort Massac in Metropolis on their way to liber- ate the town of Kaskaskia from the British. The next evening, they attacked and secured Kas- kaskia. Owen notes that digs continue at the fort site, where archaeologists from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale have discovered a second fort. lets me know that we know everything about the past yet.

Not she said, laughing. WHERE Illinois 150 just south of Briarhill Road, just northeast of Chester, Illinois MORE INFO chesterill.com/recreation/ Valerie Schremp Hahn 314-340-8246 on Twitter Covered bridges maps4news.com/©HERE, Lee Enterprises graphic Locust Creek Covered Bridge, Laclede, MO Union Covered Bridge, Paris, MO Sandy Creek Covered Bridge, Hillsboro, MO St. Louis ILLINOISMISSOURI River Covered Bridge, Randolph County, IL River Covered Bridge, Randolph County, IL Burfordville Covered Bridge, Burfordville, MO Covered bridges maps4news.com/©HERE, Lee Enterprises graphic Locust Creek Covered Bridge, Laclede, MO Union Covered Bridge, Paris, MO Sandy Creek Covered Bridge, Hillsboro, MO St. Louis ILLINOISMISSOURI Burfordville Covered Bridge, Burfordville, MO 5-column grid 6-column grid SARA DIGGINS, POST-DISPATCH The Sandy Creek Covered Bridge in Hillsboro was originally built in 1872 but was washed away and rebuilt in 1886. VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN, POST-DISPATCH Just northeast of Chester, sits River Covered Bridge, which crosses the Little River and now serves as a roadside park along Illinois 150.

The bridge was built in 1854 and was along the road used to take goods to and from the Mississippi River. MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES The Locust Creek Covered Bridge, in Linn County in north central Missouri, was built in 1868, and at 151 feet is the longest of the four remaining covered bridges in Missouri. A young John J. Pershing swam and fished near here as a boy. VALERIE SCHREMP HAHN, POST-DISPATCH The Burfordville covered bridge in southeast Missouri is part of the Bollinger Mill State Historic Site.

The mill predates the covered bridge, which was completed in 1867. STL LIFE Bridges From B1.