Potential Activities
Picnicking
Historical Appreciation
Fishing Wading
Historical Marker Inscription
Franklin County's only covered bridge spans North Elkhorn Creek and is 120 ft. long
and 11 ft. wide. It was built by George Hockensmith circa 1855. Each entrance has
a sawtooth edge; the lattice is pinned with trunnels (treenails). Restored in 1906
by Louis Bower. Closed to traffic in 1954. This bridge was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, 1974.
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Inside the Bridge
Switzer covered bridge’s charm extends
beyond its historical significance. Although parking is limited, the bridge area
provides great public access to the North Fork of Elkhorn Creek. In good weather,
it’s always a good place to have a picnic and relax in a peaceful and picturesque
setting. However, when the Creek is behaving, it really opens up into a great place
to take the kids to wade in the water and go fishing. When the creek does act up,
it can be very dangerous. In 1997, unusually heavy early spring rains turned the
usually shallow creek into raging torrent that picked up the bridge off its foundations,
rammed it against the new concrete bridge for hours and finally deposited the wrecked
shell on the rocks at the base of the new span.
The bridge was rebuilt in 1998 as a new span that
mostly replicated the original structure. Gone were the opening shutters at the
center of the span that allowed visitors take in a Birdseye vista of the creek and
catch a refreshing breeze during the often stifling summers in central Kentucky.
The span still has its charm however and its draw is especially visible in the graffiti
embossed on its inner walls.
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Before the original Bridge was destroyed in 1997,
the carvings and painted messages inside the span were significant in the shear
number and time frame. Generations of shared moments in time and professions of
love were documented on that old timber. Gone now, but already quickly replaced
with a new generation of expressions. Although the Graffiti is not ideal, there
does appear to be and unwritten rule of respect for the bridge as the outside is
never desecrated.
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