Skip to main content

Poinsett's Bridge

Image
By

Hidden within the mountains of South Carolina's Upstate Region is one of the most majestic stone arch bridges you will ever see.  The Poinsett's Bridge was built in 1820 as part of what was then known as the State Road.  The State Road was a toll road that ran from Charleston through Columbia and into North Carolina.  Poinsett's Bridge was one of three stone bridge built along the route in which this particular segment was also known as the Saluda Mountain Road. (1)

The bridge is considered the oldest surviving bridge in the state - some speculate the entire southeast - and rises 24 feet over Little Gap Creek. The bridge's length is 130 feet. The most noteworthy feature of this bridge is the 15' high x 7' wide Gothic arch that bridges over the creek.  The stepped parapet side walls are also a distinguishing feature.

Poinsett Bridge is named after Joel R. Poinsett - who served as the Director of the South Carolina Board of Public Works at the time.  Poinsett was a very prominent South Carolinian who also served as the first US Ambassador to Mexico.  However, he is most famous for being the individual who introduced the poinsettia to the United States.

The bridge is believed to have been designed by Robert Mills who also designed the Washington Monument. But it is unknown if he did in fact design it as he joined the SC Board of Public Works in December 1820 - and was living in Baltimore throughout that year. (1)

The two other stone bridges that were built as part of the State/Saluda Mountain Road included a 60 foot length bridge over the North Saluda River.  This bridge contained two elliptical arches and rose about 15 feet above the water.  The third bridge was a 50 foot singular circular arch bridge that crossed over Hodge Creek.  It rose 12.5' above the water. (1) The two sister bridges were destroyed in the 1950s during the construction of the North Saluda Reservoir.

Directions:
  • From SC 11 -  Turn Right onto Old SC 11. Follow Old 11 to Callahan Mountain Road.  Turn right onto Callahan Mountain Road.  Follow brown signs for Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve to bridge - there is a parking lot near bridge site.
  • From US 25 North (Greenville) - Take US 25 North to Old US 25 and exit right.  Follow Old US 25 to Callahan Mountain Road. Turn Right onto Callahan Mountain Road.  Follow brown signs for Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve to bridge - there is a parking lot near bridge site.
Sources & Links:
All photos taken by author August 2007.









Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

California State Route 190; a Trans-Sierra Highway that could have been

By
This past week I decided to take a small scale road trip on California State Route 190 from CA 99 east to the unbuilt section over the Sierra Nevada Range.  While I was in for what turned out to be a fun drive following the course of the Tule River watershed what I found researching the back story of CA 190 was one of the most complex and unusual stories of any California State Highway.  Given that I had a ton of older photos of the eastern segment of CA 190 in the Mojave Desert of Inyo County I thought it was time to put something together for the entire route. The simplified story of CA 190 is that it is a 231 mile state highway that has a 43 mile unbuilt gap in the Sierra Nevada Range.  CA 190 is an east/west State Highway running from CA 99 in Tulare County at Tipton east to CA 127 located in Death Valley Junction near the Nevada State Line in rural Inyo County.  The routing CA 190 was adopted into the State Highway system as Legislative Route 127 which was adopted in 1933 acc
3 comments
Read more

I-73/I-74 and NC Future Interstates, Year in Review 2022

By
Another year over, already? 2022 turned out to be quite the year if you are a fan of new interstate routes, and it wasn't bad for some long standing favorites. As per the tradition, I will review what happened with I-73 and I-74, and then the other new and future interstate routes in North Carolina... Work continued on the one segment of I-73 under construction, the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass. As of the beginning of December, work was getting close to being 2/3 complete at 60.1%. Progress could be seen from US 74 on constructing of the future interchange at the Bypass's southern end. Here's a look from US 74 East in September from Google Maps Street View: Here's a photo from US 74 West taken last week by David Gallo: Work is now scheduled to be completed in October 2025, though the road itself could open earlier that year.  Progress on I-74 earned more publicity in 2022 with the opening of 7.5 more miles of the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway from US 311 (Exit 49) to NC
1 comment
Read more

Interstate 605

By
Interstate 605 is a 27.4-mile freeway located in the Los Angeles Metropolitain Area.  Interstate 605 begins at Interstate 210 near Duarte and terminates at the Interstate 405/California State Route 22 junction to the south near the boundary to the city of Long Beach.  Interstate 605 is known as the San Gabriel River Freeway and has three unconstructed miles which would extend it south to California State Route 1 near Seal Beach.  Much of the corridor of Interstate 605 was built up from what was the original California State Route 35.  The blog cover photo is taken from the July/August 1964 California Highways & Public Works which featured the initial segment of Interstate 605 to open between Whittier Boulevard and Peck Road  Part 1; the history of the San Gabriel River Freeway and Interstate 605 The origin of what is now Interstate 605 begins during 1933 with the addition of Legislative Route Number 170 (LRN 170) to the State Highway System.  The original definition of LRN 170 was
Post a Comment
Read more