>From: "freestateofpatrick" <freestateofpatrick@yahoo.com>> >Date: Sun, 29 Jan 2006 14:54:11 -0000 >Subject: [freestateofpatrick] Patrick County's Covered Bridges > >SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11 >COVERED BRIDGE SOCIETY MEETING: to establish a chapter in the >Martinsville, Danville and Stuart and Collinsville area, anyone >interested should attend the meeting, for information contact Leola >B. Pierce or Steve Pierce at 4114 Forresthills Dr., Portsmouth, Va. >23703; (757) 484-4404 or email VaBridgeLady@aol.com; noon, Ryan's >Family Steak House, 361 Commonwealth Blvd., Martinsville. > >Covered Bridge Society Of Virginia > >COVERED BRIDGE SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA, INC. >4114 Forrest hills Drive, Portsmouth, Va. 23703 phone 757-484-4404 ><http://www.cbsva.org/>www.CBSVA.org > > >Patrick County's Covered Bridges > > Walter G. Weaver of Woolwine, Virginia, liked to design and >build bridges. In fact, the saw miller, blacksmith and carpenter >liked to do almost anything with wood whether it was bridges or >coffins. When he died in 1948 there were four bridges in Patrick >County that he had designed or built still standing. Two were over >Rock Castle Creek, one where Route 40 passes over the stream and >another on Widgeon Road. While neither of them is standing today, two >other of Weaver's bridges still stand, two of the seven original >covered bridges in Virginia. > Charlie Vaughan of Buffalo Ridge built the Jack's Creek >Covered Bridge in 1914. Walter Weaver designed and Peter C. Brammer >roofed the structure. The bridge is 48 feet long and 13 feet wide and >sits near Route 615 two miles south of Woolwine just off Route 8. It >served Jack's Creek Primitive Baptist Church until a modern bridge >replaced it in 1932. In 1969, the Woolwine Ruritan Club raised money >for repairs, painting and roofing material. In 1973, the Patrick >County Board of Supervisors took action to save the bridge getting a >matching grant from the Virginia Landmarks Commission to restore the >bridge. > Weaver designed and built the Bob White Covered Bridge in >1921. Named for the Bob White Post Office and a quail, whose call >sounds like "Bob White." The bridge was in service for the Smith >River Church of the Brethren on Route 708 until 1981 when a new road >was built. Patrick County took responsibility for the structure that >same year. The bridge has two spans and is 80 foot long with concrete >abutments at the end and a solid concrete pier in the center. >Visitors can reach the bridge by taking Route 618 1 ½ half miles >south of Woolwine off Route 8 and then to Route 869. The bridge's >trademark arundo grass grows around the bridge in the summer. > Both of Patrick County's Covered Bridges were placed on the >Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic >Places in 1973. The Patrick County Historical Society and the county >government take care of the bridges.