The Elizabethton Covered Bridge is a

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

over the

Doe River The Doe River is a tributary of the Watauga River in northeast Tennessee in the United States. The river forms in Carter County near the North Carolina line, just south of Roan Mountain State Park, and flows to Elizabethton. Hydrography Th ...

Elizabethton Elizabethton () is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of bo ...

, the county seat of Carter County,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. The Elizabethton Covered Bridge was constructed in 1882 and connects 3rd Street and Hattie Avenue.

Features

Structurally, the Elizabethton Covered Bridge contains one span, a covered wooden

Howe truss A Howe truss is a truss bridge consisting of chords, verticals, and diagonals whose vertical members are in tension and whose diagonal members are in compression. The Howe truss was invented by William Howe in 1840, and was widely used as a brid ...

(typically constructed of timber diagonals and iron verticals) that is long. The total length is . The covered bridge contains one traffic lane and a single walkway, while the curb-to-curb width is and the out-to-out width is . The bridge substructure is

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

, stone, and

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

. Each end of the bridge features a projecting truncated

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d roofline. ElizabethtonCoveredBridge1

While allowing for

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, by wheelchair or with other mobility aids. Streets and roads often have a designated footpath for pedestrian traffic, called the '' sidewalk'' in North American English, the ''pavement'' in British En ...

and

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

transit over the Doe River, the Elizabethton Covered Bridge is now closed to all motor vehicle traffic.

History: "five dollar bridge"

As the county seat, Elizabethton grew throughout the 19th century. However, Lynn Mountain hemmed it in to the east and the

Watauga River The Watauga River () is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake. Course The Watauga River rises from a spring located south to ...

lay to the north. The Doe River flooded often and limited growth to the south. To span westward, to the site of the current downtown, the city would need a bridge over the Doe River. After extensive debate, in 1882 the Carter County Court approved $3,000 for the bridge and $300 for approaches. The court appointed a committee to select a site for the bridge. However, the committee encountered an unexpected problem — the men could not find a qualified contractor to erect the bridge. After county officials were unable to find a bridge contractor, a local doctor, E. E. Hunter, accepted the contract and hired experienced people to work on the bridge. Hunter selected Thomas Matson, who had been an engineer for the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad , affectionately called the "Tweetsie" as a verbal acronym of its initials (ET&WNC) but also in reference to the sound of its steam whistles, was a primarily narrow gauge railroad established ...

as an engineer and architect. Hunter referred to the bridge as his "five dollar bridge" since he made a profit of $5 as contractor. Although logs from a lumber operation and a barn were thrown against the covered bridge and its supports during a disastrous flood in 1901, this was the only major bridge in the area to survive.

June covered bridge festival, parades

Originating on the side of Roan Mountain, the Doe River eventually flows by the East Side neighborhood in Elizabethton and parallel with

Tennessee State Route 67 State Route 67 (SR 67) is a state-maintained highway in northeastern Tennessee, including a four-lane divided highway segments in both Washington County and Carter County, and part of a significant two-lane segment passing over the Butler Br ...

before passing underneath the historic covered bridge. Connecting 3rd Street to Hattie Avenue, the Elizabethton Covered Bridge, although now closed to motor vehicle traffic, is still open to both bicycles and pedestrians throughout the year. Elizabethton Covered Bridge is adjacent to a large city park area with walking trails, baseball diamonds, and picnic areas and the covered bridge spans the Doe River connecting this city park area with the Elizabethton downtown business district. Most of Elizabethton's downtown is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

for its historical and architectural merits. The Elizabethton Historic District contains a variety of properties ranging in age from the late 18th century through the 1930s. However, the Elizabethton Covered Bridge is an important focal point and a well-known landmark in the state that pre-dates much of the downtown construction fueled by the rayon boom of the mid-to-late 1920s. In addition to the Covered Bridge, the downtown historical district also contains the 1928 Elk Avenue concrete arch bridge, and just a little further downstream on the Doe River,

passes another similar concrete arch bridge, locally known as the Broad Street Bridge. Elizabethton celebrates in the downtown business area for one week each June with the Elizabethton Covered Bridge Days featuring country and gospel music performances, activities for children, Elk Avenue car club show, and many food and crafts vendors. The Elizabethton Covered Bridge is also along the Elk Avenue route for the annual Independence Day and Christmas parades.

Connection with U.S. Interstate Highway System

Interstate 26 Interstate 26 (I-26) is a main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. Nominally east–west, as indicated by its even number, I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W, US Route 11W (US 11W) ...

Exit 24 at Johnson City then east
US 321

US 321 U.S. Route 321 (US 321) is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It runs for from Hardeeville, South Carolina to Lenoir City, Tennessee; with both serving as southern termini. It reaches its northernmost point at Elizabethton, Tennessee, just no ...

/Tennessee State Route 67 to

, then
straight on Elk Avenue to downtown business district.

References

Elizabethton Covered Bridge
Tennessee Department of Transportation
Doe River Covered Bridge at Elizabethton, Tennessee
Carter County/Elizabethton Tourism

External links