Swinging Bridges of Kentucky
There was time, not that long ago, when it wasn't out of the ordinary to see suspension bridges stretched across the various creeks and rivers of East Kentucky. Most all of the old bridges have been long lost to time and neglect, but there's still a few here and there. Almost all are not safe to use, and many are nothing more than empty steel cables. In some parts of the state people still walk the creaky, swaying bridges every day. I remember my Maw and her sisters talking about different bridges they walked in their youth. They'd point out places were they use to be when we were out driving. The city park used to have one until about 10 year ago. As kids me and my cousins would go out to the middle of the Ramey Park bridge and start swaying back and worth, daring each other to be the first to chicken out beg the other to stop. These old icons of the Appalachian landscape are near to my heart. I'm approaching this as way to preserve what's left of that tradition here on the Steemit block-chain. I hope yuns get just a fraction of the joy I get from these relics of the past.
You can find these first two bridges on Frozen Creek in Breathitt county. Frozen is locally famous for the Frozen Creek flood of 1939. In the black of night on July 4th a 20 foot wall of water raged down the valley leaving 55 people dead and destroying dozens of homes and barns. My guess is that these were built after the flood. The bridge shown below seemed to be in pretty decent shape. I'd try and cross it if I weighed a hundred pounds less.
This next bridge on the other hand is far from safe. Many of the boards are still there, but there loose and rotted. The rock the bridge is built on gives it a nice look, and the abandoned homestead across the creek is begging me to come take a look.
The next three bridges are in Letcher county. I came across them over the weekend. They all cross Line Fork. The first two near the community of Hallie.
This would have been a scary one to cross back in the day. I'd say it's close to 20 feet above the creek. You can see some remnants of the homestead on the other side.
This third bridge is a few miles on up Line creek. There's not much more to it than the last one. You can barley see the old house through the trees, farther up the hill, but it's in someones yard. So I doubt I'll ever get to take a closer look. This is the smallest swinging bridge I've come across. It looks like it's been in ruins for several decades.
That's all for now. They'll be more to come. I just have to find 'em.