The West Union Covered Bridge (1843), on

Middle Island Creek Middle Island Creek is a river, 77 miles (124 km) long, in northwestern West Virginia in the United States. It is a tributary of the Ohio River, draining an area of 565 square miles (1,463 km2) on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau. It w ...

, was a local historical landmark of

West Union, West Virginia West Union, incorporated July 20, 1881, is a town in Doddridge County, West Virginia, Doddridge County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 669 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Doddridge C ...

, USA, until its destruction in a flood in 1950. It was one of more than 100

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

s constructed throughout the state in the mid- and late 19th century.

History

The locally celebrated bridge replaced an earlier one built at the settlement then called Lewisport. According to an early resident, A.A. Bee, "The first bridge across Middle Island Creek t West Unionwas of hewed logs with a center abutment of stones. In the great flood of 1835 it was washed away". In 1842, a contract for a replacement was awarded to the well-known

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

Colonel Benoît "Claudius" Crozet (1789 –1864). (Crozet was an immigrant from France who had served in the French military and later taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, as well as helping found the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

.) The new covered bridge at West Union was part of a series of public works along the

Northwestern Turnpike The Northwestern Turnpike is a historic road in West Virginia (Virginia at the time the road was created), important for being historically one of the major roads crossing the Appalachians, financed by the Virginia Board of Public Works in the 183 ...

which stretched from

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

west to the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

through what was then all the state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

.Callahan, James Morton (1913)
''Semi-centennial History of West Virginia: With Special Articles on Development and Resources''
West Virginia Semi-Centennial Commission, pp 107-108.

Ephraim Bee Ephraim Bee (December 26, 1802 – October 23, 1888) was an American pioneer, blacksmith, and inn-keeper of Doddridge County, West Virginia, which he represented in the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1863 and 1866–1867. Biography Bee was ...

(1802–1888), a local

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

, magistrate, and state legislator, made all the iron bolts and bands for the bridge, which was completed in 1843. The West Union Covered Bridge was destroyed after 107 years in a long-remembered flood that devastated the region in June 1950. The inundation also destroyed homes and businesses, killing more than 20 people throughout

Doddridge County Doddridge County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,808. Its county seat is West Union. Doddridge County is part of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...

. The bridge collapsed into the river below, and, because officials feared that it would dam the flood water and create more problems, the still intact wooden structure was demolished.

References

Citations

Other sources

*Toothman, Melissa (2015), ”Doddridge County Historical Society Remembers and Honors Survivors and Lives Lost in 1950 Flood”, ''

The Exponent-Telegram The ''Exponent Telegram'' is a daily newspaper serving Clarksburg, West Virginia and the surrounding community. It has a daily print circulation of about 14,000, and a Sunday circulation of about 18,000. History ''The Telegram'' was founded in ...

'' (Monday, 13 July issue).

History

References

Citations

Other sources

See also