Fallasburg Covered Bridge

Fallasburg Covered Bridge - Michigan

Built in 1871 by Jared N. Bresee for $1500, the Fallasburg Covered Bridge is a 100-foot-long Howe truss design covered bridge that crosses the Flat River in the historic village of Fallasburg, Michigan, just north of Lowell in Kent County. The bridge is 14 feet wide and 12 feet high. The Fallasburg Covered Bridge is one of just six covered bridges remaining in Michigan, the oldest covered bridge that sits on its original site, and one of only three covered bridges in the state that is open to traffic. One of the other covered bridges in Michigan that is open to traffic is the Whites Covered Bridge, located just a few miles north along the Flat River.

Signs at each portal provide caution of a $5 fine for riding or driving faster than a walk, which is typical of covered bridges of a certain vintage. Repairs throughout the years have allowed the covered bridge to remain open to vehicular traffic and even surmount damage caused in 2013 when a heavy truck drove over the bridge despite exceeding the three-ton load limit. Due to its historic nature, the Fallasburg Covered Bridge was listed with the Michigan State Register of Historic Places on February 12, 1959, and the National Register on March 16, 1972.

The Fallasburg Covered Bridge is located within Fallasburg Park, and not far from the bridge is the Fallasburg Historic District, which was designated as a Historical District with the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Fallasburg Village was founded during the 1830s by John Wesley Fallass, and there is a Fallasburg Village which is now a historic district. This includes twenty acres along the banks of the Flat River, the covered bridge, schoolhouse, cemetery, the Fallas House and Misner House museums, and the Orlin Douglass/Tower Farm.

The Flat River is peaceful and seemed to live up to its name when I visited.

Bridge portal and a sign mentioning a $5 fine for driving across the bridge faster than a walk. I wonder if those fines would still be charged today, or if the signs are there for its historical nature.

This seems to be a nice spot to have a picnic or go fishing.

The Fallasburg Covered Bridge meshes well with its natural surroundings on this spring morning.

Time to drive across the bridge and go to my next destination.

How to Get There:

Sources and Links:
Pure Michigan - Fallasburg Covered Bridge, Pioneer Village & School
Fallasburg Historical Society - Welcome to Fallasburg
Kent County Road Commission - Kent County Road Commission Blog
DaleJTravis.com - Michigan Covered Bridges List

Comments

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield. Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away. In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south. Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center. Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat. The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area. In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the stage for the decline of M

The National Road - Pennsylvania - Great Crossings Bridge and Somerfield

West of Addison, US 40 crosses the Youghiogheny River at what once was the town of Somerfield. When crossing the current modern two lane bridge, you many not realize that it is actually the third to cross the Yough at this site. The first - a stone arch bridge - was known as the Great Crossings Bridge. Built in 1818, this three arch bridge was part of the original National Road. The name Great Crossings comes from the men who forded the Youghiogheny here - George Washington and George Braddock. (1) If you cross the bridge at the right time, this historic bridge and what was once the town of Somerfield will appear out from underneath this massive man-made lake. Historical Postcard showing the 'Big Crossings' bridge and Somerfield. Image submitted by Vince Ferrari. The Great Crossings Bridge was located in the town of Somerfield. Somerfield, originally named Smythfield until 1827, would develop as a result of the National Road. (1) Somerfield would go through va

Gribblenation

Search This Blog