Picture of the day - November 4, 2007

Georgia's Watson Mill Bridge

Photo courtesy of Glen Dykstra. America's remaining "covered bridges" are treasured monuments of our nation's past, and every time I see one of them I'm reminded of a simpler time when the members of a community happily worked together for the common good and everyone knew all of their neighbors on a first-name basis. A century or so ago, covered bridges dotted much of the American landscape, but today only a relative handful of these historic structures are still standing. Back in the "old days", building a bridge required a lot of hard work and great expense, so in order to protect them from the destructive powers of the elements they were covered with a roof and walls to keep out the wind, rain and snow. Today, most of us occasionally see a covered bridge on a postcard, but "back then" folks passed through them on a regular basis as they went about their simpler, yet busy lives. Photographer Glen Dykstra took this wonderful picture of Georgia's historic Watson Mill Bridge, and the following is his story behind the image: "I live in the State of Georgia (USA). The State has 12 covered bridges that still remain, and I am on a quest to photograph all of them. This is actually the 5th covered bridge I have photographed during this quest. This photograph of Watson Mill Bridge, which resides in Madison County, was photographed on November 3rd, 2007 at 10:30 AM. The camera settings were as follows: Exposure 1/80 sec, f/8, ISO 100, FL 21.0 mm." The bridge's historical marker reads:   “Built by W. W. King in 1885, Watson Mill Bridge is Georgia’s longest existing covered bridge of the Town lattice type. It has four spans and is 236 feet long. Covered primarily to protect the structural timbers, the bridge served local traffic, the workers of the now missing grist mill and saw mill and even for picnics and square dances. The bridge was restored in 1973, by the Georgia Department of Transportation to serve as a nucleus for the surrounding Watson Mill Bridge State Park." Click here to comment on today's picture.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"