Port Royal State Park
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Port Royal State Historic Park is a 26 acre (105,000 m²) Historic area on the border of Montgomery and Robertson counties in Tennessee. The community of Port Royal is its namesake. The Red River runs through the center of the park, and the covered bridge at Port Royal once crossed it.
The day-use only park offers hiking, picnicing, canoeing, fishing, photography and interpretive talks upon request.
Historically, it has been one of the earliest colonial communities and trading post in middle TN being first settled in 1782. It was also the crossing point over the Red River of the Cherokee Indians along the Trail of Tears. The crossing even became a major stagecoach route up until after the 1880s. In 1977, the State of Tennessee received the deed to 26 acres (105,000 m²) of land at Port Royal, and designated it a State Historic Park in 1978.
[edit] History of the Port Royal Covered Bridge
The Port Royal Covered Bridge was an example of a Howe truss design and significant due to its composition of wood. It was reserved only for foot travel.
The date of the first bridge built at the crossing is unknown, however it is known that it was washed away in the Flood of 1866. In 1903, a second bridge was built. Disaster occurred when the bridge collapsed 200 feet (60 m) while workmen were removing false support timbers, sending three workmen and one bystander into the river. One of them died in the fall. The bridge was rebuilt in 1904 and served the area until 1955, when a new concrete and steel bridge was erected along side it. The old covered bridge deteriorated until it collapsed into the river in 1972.
In 1977, when the area was acquired by the state, the bridge was once again rebuilt. Disaster would strike again when on June 10, 1998, flooding and tornado activity severely damaged the bridge. When the waters receded, only half of the bridge remained.
There is also a very excellent example of an early Pratt Truss design steel bridge being built in 1887. This bridge spans the Sulphur Fork Creek and is well preserved and available to foot traffic only.
