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.