Miller Covered Bridge

Completed in 1908, this bridge became the first span across the Tallapoosa River between Dadeville and New Site. It was named for Nora E. Miller, who owned the land where it stood. Dadeville builder W. H. Wynn and his son Will constructed it for $13,896, using five large support pilings fashioned from riverbank stone, local heart pine timber for the trusses and lattice work, wooden shingles on the original roof later replaced by tin, and 1600 oak pegs instead of nails. At 858 feet, it was the longest covered bridge in Alabama and one of the longest in the United States. Heavier automobiles made it obsolete, and in 1955 a new concrete bridge opened alongside it. With disuse, the structure deteriorated. After Horseshoe Bend National Military Park was created in 1959, local preservationists hoped to restore the old bridge as a pedestrian walkway, but those hopes ended on June 23, 1963, when a large portion collapsed into the river, and the remnants were removed soon afterward.

Alabama · United States