Although I knew its exact location, I nearly drove right past it! It looks more like a shed in the woods than a bridge since the surrounding area is overgrown with brush and the creek is not immediately noticeable from the road. ~~~~~~~~~~ Please note this bridge is on private property, a little factoid I didn’t discover until after my visit. Glad I didn’t get shot! ~~~~~~~~~~ The bridge itself was actually in very good condition. While preparing to write this review I discovered an article about the bridge on that said students from the local high school took part in a restoration project around 2007. The bridge was restored to look like the oldest historic picture they could find of the bridge. Other online pictures appear to show the bridge covered in cedar shingles and looking rather unattractive. The current look is far more appealing and in line with ALL the other covered historic bridges in the state. The students participation won them 2nd place for Future Business Leaders of America in their county… pretty awesome! The article also states there were plans in the works that included making the bridge public for all to enjoy. A portion of land was to be donated by the two properties that are divided by the creek just below the bridge. Problems arose when the county commissioner changed and support for the project seemingly dried up. — — — - HAUNTED The bridge is also said to be haunted by a blind women by the name of Suzie who used to make moonshine, rock out on her porch, and sell her goods(on occasion) by this bridge. It has been argued this is the wrong bridge, but someone thought it would be good to attach the name of Blind Suzie to this bridge as a ghost story and it seems to have stuck. Get the full details of the article about this bridge here:
— — — - BRIDGEFACTS * Also known as Hyder Bridge and Lula Covered Bridge. * Closed to vehicular Traffic in 1969 when it was bypassed * Originally built in 1915 about a mile upriver and was relocated. * Only remaining authentic historic covered bridge in Banks County. * Shortest of the remaining Georgia Covered bridges. * TOTALLENGTH: 34′ long * TRUSS: single-span modified Kingpost truss(the only covered bridge remaining in Georgia with this truss system). — — — - FINALTHOUGHTS Whether Blind Suzie actually haunts this bridge or not, it is a valuable surviving piece of history that I hope doesn’t get caught up on silly bureaucracy that results in its demise. This bridge is officially 100 years old and deserves to be preserved for 100 years more for future generations to remember and enjoy. I hope they do eventually make this bridge accessible to the public. I would think this could be a project the entire state would get behind and take pride in like Indiana and Ohio, two fine examples of states who have made restoring their historic bridges a priority. Each has created driving tours and festivals celebrating their bridges that are enjoyed by locals statewide and bridge lovers from all over… like me. Seems to me it would be a no brainer that this sort of tourism would add valuable dollars to the local economies… just sayin’
