Rocker59
03-14-2006, 09:10 PM
Craig asked me to post a couple of recent ride reports of mine, so here goes:
Sunny and near 70-degrees here in Northwest Arkansas today. It was kind of a slow afternoon, so I thought I'd take a little ride and search out an old bridge Southeast of Fayetteville. Mixing history and riding is something I love to do.
I headed out of town on one of my favourite roads. Black Oak Road takes you from South Fayetteville through Black Oak, Arkansas and around to AR-16. (this is not the town that gave it's name to the '70s rock band. That one is in the NE part of the state in Craighead County). This route is a good one as it avoids the "traffic congestion" and speed trap that is Elkins, Arkansas...
Cool old barn near Black Oak:
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887890-M.jpg
The object of my little trip was to locate Cannon Creek Bridge. This historic bridge was built in 1929 and was important in allowing farmers and loggers access Westward on Hwy 16 to Fayetteville. Before this bridge was built, wagons and cars had to ford the creek. Not good for traffic in the winter or when its been raining.
*An excerpt from the Arkansas Preservation website. http://www.arkansaspreservation.org/historic-properties/national-register/results.asp?description=bridge
"the only known example of a curved concrete deck bridge in Arkansas. The bridge is uniquely curved to transverse two creeks in the area, the Cannon and the Coon, and because of its unique curve, attracted the attention of a nationally syndicated newspaper feature in the 1940s. As the only bridge in the Cannon Creek area and as a well preserved landmark of the 1929 road-building campaign by the Arkansas State Highway Department".
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887897-M.jpg
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887892-M.jpg
"Traversing the hills of the Ozarks has always presented a challenge to travelers. Watershed moments like the completion of the rail tunnel at Winslow (1882) and more recently the Bobby Hopper Tunnel on Interstate Highway 540 (1998) have made the passage quicker and safer. A lesser-known portal, the bridge over Cannon Creek, is another landmark structure that made passage through the Ozarks more reliable.
At the turn of the last century, Madison County was booming. As the railroad expanded in the West, investors saw money in the trees, and the white oak forest of the Ozarks was harvested and milled into railroad ties. Many towns, most notably St. Paul, grew up overnight to support the teeming lumber industry. Though a railway served the area with freight and passenger service, as late as the 1920s, travel by automobile was a harrowing experience.
Before the construction of the bridge at Cannon Creek, travelers between the lumber boomtown of St. Paul and Fayetteville forded the creek at low-water times where the current bridge stands today. This route was treacherously steep and impassable in times of high water. The construction of the Cannon Creek Bridge enabled travelers to pass easily in all weather. The bridge was part of a larger road-building campaign in 1929 that included the construction of a bridge over the White River at St. Paul.
The firm of Walsh & Thomas of Benton, Arkansas, won a contract to build two bridges along Route 23/16 in 1928. Their plans for State Highway Bridge #1069 called for a design feature not seen in the state before or since, a twenty-four degree curve. Walsh & Thomas hired local workmen to build the bridge. They built all components of the bridge: footings, piers, beams, deck, and railings, of poured reinforced concrete. With the help of teams of mules, they shored up the banks of the creek beneath the bridge with dry-laid local stone. Two factors, the steep topography of the area and the confluence of Cannon and Coon creeks immediately west of the site, dictated the placement of the bridge and required the unique curved design. The bridge was completed in the summer of 1929 for a total of $5,744.
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887903-M.jpg
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887916-M.jpg
To the local people of Cannon Creek and the surrounding White River basin, the bridge represented the beginning of a new era. Soon after the bridge was completed, the depression years and the exhaustion of the forest silenced the tie mills and locomotives of the Ozarks. The bridge connected local people to places beyond the hills long before electricity or telephone service reached the region.
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887918-M.jpg
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887921-M.jpg
The unique curved bridge was a landmark on the twisty route of Hwy 16 and Hwy 23 South that became known as the Pig Trail. The design of the bridge attracted the attention of the syndicated newspaper feature “Ripley’s Believe it or NOT!” in the 1940s, and the bridge was billed across the nation as the only one of its kind. In its years of active service, the bridge carried many a poultry truck into the hills and provided passage to thousands of Razorback fans traveling to football games. It also witnessed many accidents when drivers did not heed the
reduced speed limit that the tight curve required. The Cannon Creek Bridge was bypassed by a new bridge in the 1980s. It still serves the few residents who live nearby, but carries practically no through traffic."
The "new" realigned section of Hwy 16. The old bridge is to the left, up the hollow.
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887924-M.jpg
It was fun seeing and touching the bridge. I know it meant a lot to the people who lived here when it was built. But time marches on, and now this important little local landmark is all but forgotten by people using Hwy 16 today.
Onward now. I decided to get dirty. I am on the Quota today, afterall. East on Hwy 16 to Combs, then North on Hwy 295 toward Japton.
A nice round-topped barn at Combs:
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887926-M.jpg
Just after this barn, state maintenance ends and its about 15 miles of dirt/gravel county roads. I didn't take any pictures. The road was smooth and hard-packed. I was having too much fun to stop and take any photos!
When pavement reappears, I'm at the little community of Japton. There are a few houses and a store. Not much else anymore.
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887930-M.jpg
This store was built in about 1935. Other than a new gabled roof, not much has changed!
From Japton, I take AR-295 North, then AR-74 West to Wesley, then AR-295 North to Hindsville, then AR-45 back to Fayetteville. A nice, curvy route back home.
So there you go. 3-hours and 80-miles of Springtime fun in Northwest Arkansas with a little bit of history thrown in for good measure!
Sunny and near 70-degrees here in Northwest Arkansas today. It was kind of a slow afternoon, so I thought I'd take a little ride and search out an old bridge Southeast of Fayetteville. Mixing history and riding is something I love to do.
I headed out of town on one of my favourite roads. Black Oak Road takes you from South Fayetteville through Black Oak, Arkansas and around to AR-16. (this is not the town that gave it's name to the '70s rock band. That one is in the NE part of the state in Craighead County). This route is a good one as it avoids the "traffic congestion" and speed trap that is Elkins, Arkansas...
Cool old barn near Black Oak:
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887890-M.jpg
The object of my little trip was to locate Cannon Creek Bridge. This historic bridge was built in 1929 and was important in allowing farmers and loggers access Westward on Hwy 16 to Fayetteville. Before this bridge was built, wagons and cars had to ford the creek. Not good for traffic in the winter or when its been raining.
*An excerpt from the Arkansas Preservation website. http://www.arkansaspreservation.org/historic-properties/national-register/results.asp?description=bridge
"the only known example of a curved concrete deck bridge in Arkansas. The bridge is uniquely curved to transverse two creeks in the area, the Cannon and the Coon, and because of its unique curve, attracted the attention of a nationally syndicated newspaper feature in the 1940s. As the only bridge in the Cannon Creek area and as a well preserved landmark of the 1929 road-building campaign by the Arkansas State Highway Department".
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887897-M.jpg
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887892-M.jpg
"Traversing the hills of the Ozarks has always presented a challenge to travelers. Watershed moments like the completion of the rail tunnel at Winslow (1882) and more recently the Bobby Hopper Tunnel on Interstate Highway 540 (1998) have made the passage quicker and safer. A lesser-known portal, the bridge over Cannon Creek, is another landmark structure that made passage through the Ozarks more reliable.
At the turn of the last century, Madison County was booming. As the railroad expanded in the West, investors saw money in the trees, and the white oak forest of the Ozarks was harvested and milled into railroad ties. Many towns, most notably St. Paul, grew up overnight to support the teeming lumber industry. Though a railway served the area with freight and passenger service, as late as the 1920s, travel by automobile was a harrowing experience.
Before the construction of the bridge at Cannon Creek, travelers between the lumber boomtown of St. Paul and Fayetteville forded the creek at low-water times where the current bridge stands today. This route was treacherously steep and impassable in times of high water. The construction of the Cannon Creek Bridge enabled travelers to pass easily in all weather. The bridge was part of a larger road-building campaign in 1929 that included the construction of a bridge over the White River at St. Paul.
The firm of Walsh & Thomas of Benton, Arkansas, won a contract to build two bridges along Route 23/16 in 1928. Their plans for State Highway Bridge #1069 called for a design feature not seen in the state before or since, a twenty-four degree curve. Walsh & Thomas hired local workmen to build the bridge. They built all components of the bridge: footings, piers, beams, deck, and railings, of poured reinforced concrete. With the help of teams of mules, they shored up the banks of the creek beneath the bridge with dry-laid local stone. Two factors, the steep topography of the area and the confluence of Cannon and Coon creeks immediately west of the site, dictated the placement of the bridge and required the unique curved design. The bridge was completed in the summer of 1929 for a total of $5,744.
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887903-M.jpg
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887916-M.jpg
To the local people of Cannon Creek and the surrounding White River basin, the bridge represented the beginning of a new era. Soon after the bridge was completed, the depression years and the exhaustion of the forest silenced the tie mills and locomotives of the Ozarks. The bridge connected local people to places beyond the hills long before electricity or telephone service reached the region.
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887918-M.jpg
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887921-M.jpg
The unique curved bridge was a landmark on the twisty route of Hwy 16 and Hwy 23 South that became known as the Pig Trail. The design of the bridge attracted the attention of the syndicated newspaper feature “Ripley’s Believe it or NOT!” in the 1940s, and the bridge was billed across the nation as the only one of its kind. In its years of active service, the bridge carried many a poultry truck into the hills and provided passage to thousands of Razorback fans traveling to football games. It also witnessed many accidents when drivers did not heed the
reduced speed limit that the tight curve required. The Cannon Creek Bridge was bypassed by a new bridge in the 1980s. It still serves the few residents who live nearby, but carries practically no through traffic."
The "new" realigned section of Hwy 16. The old bridge is to the left, up the hollow.
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887924-M.jpg
It was fun seeing and touching the bridge. I know it meant a lot to the people who lived here when it was built. But time marches on, and now this important little local landmark is all but forgotten by people using Hwy 16 today.
Onward now. I decided to get dirty. I am on the Quota today, afterall. East on Hwy 16 to Combs, then North on Hwy 295 toward Japton.
A nice round-topped barn at Combs:
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887926-M.jpg
Just after this barn, state maintenance ends and its about 15 miles of dirt/gravel county roads. I didn't take any pictures. The road was smooth and hard-packed. I was having too much fun to stop and take any photos!
When pavement reappears, I'm at the little community of Japton. There are a few houses and a store. Not much else anymore.
http://rocker59.smugmug.com/photos/58887930-M.jpg
This store was built in about 1935. Other than a new gabled roof, not much has changed!
From Japton, I take AR-295 North, then AR-74 West to Wesley, then AR-295 North to Hindsville, then AR-45 back to Fayetteville. A nice, curvy route back home.
So there you go. 3-hours and 80-miles of Springtime fun in Northwest Arkansas with a little bit of history thrown in for good measure!