The Gilliland-Reese Covered Bridge, more simply known as Gilliland's Covered Bridge, is a locally owned wooden
covered bridge that spans a small pond near
Black Creek in
Etowah County, Alabama
Etowah County is a County (United States), county located in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 103,436. Its county seat is Gadsden, Alabama, ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is located at
Noccalula Falls Park off Noccalula Road (
State Route 211) in the city of
Gadsden. Coordinates are (34.039386, -86.024147). Noccalula Falls Park is also home to the 90-foot (27 m) Noccalula Falls, part of Black Creek as it cascades down into a ravine from a ledge off
Lookout Mountain
Lookout Mountain is a mountain ridge located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain was the scene of the 18th-centu ...
. There are a couple of sources which state the bridge spans Clayton Fish Pond, but that is over a mile (2 kilometers) west of the park along a rural section of Hinds Road.
Built in 1899, the 85-foot (26 m) bridge is a Stringer construction over a single span. Its current
WGCB number is 01-28-C, formerly 01-28-02. Although most sources spell the second part of the name as "Reese," it is actually named after the town of
Reece City where the bridge was originally located. There is an admission charge to visit Noccalula Falls Park (Noccalula Falls itself is excluded), which also includes a pioneer village along with a
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
. The bridge is maintained by the City of Gadsden.
History
The Gilliland-Reese Covered Bridge was constructed in 1899 by a crew under the direction of Etowah County Commissioner Jesse Gilliland...a
Town Lattice truss
A lattice bridge is a form of truss bridge that uses many small, closely spaced diagonal elements forming a latticework, lattice. The lattice Truss Bridge was patented in 1820 by architect Ithiel Town.
Originally a design to allow a substantial br ...
made of rough-hewn lumber and covered with weathered shingles, originally located over
Little Wills Creek Little Wills Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of Wills Creek in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.Gertler, Edward. '' ...
at Gilliland Plantation in the vicinity of present-day Bethany Sitz Gap Road near Reece City (Coordinates {{coord, 34, 04, 17.66, N, 86, 01, 50.67, W, type:city (34.071572, -86.030742)). The bridge provided a crossing over the creek, thus improving area transportation, and also was a favorite meeting place. Eventually, the Gilliland-Reese Covered Bridge was replaced in the 1920s by the new Reeceville Road. In 1966, the bridge was donated to the City of Gadsden by the family of Judge H. Ross Gilliland as it was threatened by the construction of
Interstate 59. No other structures of the Gilliland Plantation are known to remain. The bridge was fully restored and moved to Noccalula Falls Park in 1967. Most of the Town Lattice truss setup was removed during restoration, making the bridge more of a Stringer construction. Therefore, it is currently classified as a non-authentic covered bridge. Another piece of history has been added to an already historic setting.
See also
*
List of Alabama covered bridges
References
* Bridges to the Past: Alabama's Covered Bridges
Gilliland-Reese CB: Credits Retrieved Aug. 24, 2007.
* Alabama Bureau of Tourism & Travel
Gilliland-Reese CB: Credits Retrieved Aug. 24, 2007.
* ''The Decatur Daily''
Gilliland-Reese CB: Credits Retrieved Aug. 24, 2007.
* Alabamiana: A Guide to Alabama
Retrieved Aug. 24, 2007.
* Alabama Historical Commission (1969). ''Alabama's Covered Bridges''. Retrieved Oct. 27, 2007.
* Dale J. Travis Covered Bridges
Retrieved Sep. 17, 2008.
* BhamWiki
Gilliland-Reese CB: Credits Retrieved Aug. 14, 2013.
* LostBridges.org
Gilliland-Reese CB: Credits Retrieved Oct. 30, 2013.
External links
Bridges to the Past: Alabama's Covered Bridges
Covered bridges in Alabama
Bridges completed in 1899
Buildings and structures in Gadsden, Alabama
Wooden bridges in Alabama
Transportation buildings and structures in Etowah County, Alabama
Tourist attractions in Etowah County, Alabama
Road bridges in Alabama
Pedestrian bridges in Alabama
Former road bridges in the United States
1899 establishments in Alabama
Lattice truss bridges in the United States