Nectar Covered Bridge

Nectar CB
Two stone piers remain where the Nectar Covered Bridge once stood. The bridge burned down in 1993.
Coordinates	33°57′22.45″N 86°37′34.17″W
Nectar Covered Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Nectar, Alabama
Area	1.1 acres (0.4 ha)
Built	1932
MPS	Blount County Covered Bridges TR
NRHP reference No.	81000124
Added to NRHP	August 20, 1981
Carries	single lane motor traffic
Crosses	Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River
Locale	Nectar, Alabama
Maintained by	Blount County Commission
ID number	01-05-04 (WGCB)
Characteristics
Design	Town Lattice truss
Total length	385 ft (117 m)
Load limit	3 US tons (2.72 metric tons)
History
Construction end	1932
Closed	June 13, 1993 by fire
Location

The Nectar Covered Bridge was a county-owned, wood and metal combination style covered bridge which spanned the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River in Blount County, Alabama, United States. It was located on Nectar Bridge Road off State Route 160, just east of the town of Nectar, about 14 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of Oneonta. Coordinates are 33°57′22.45″N 86°37′34.17″W (33.956236, -86.626158).

Built in 1932, the 385-foot (117-meter) bridge was a Town Lattice truss construction over four spans. Its WGCB number is 01-05-04. The Nectar Covered Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 20, 1981. It was the second-longest covered bridge built in Blount County, to the latter constructed 432-foot (132-meter) Standridge Covered Bridge near Hayden, which burned down in 1967. At one time, the Nectar Covered Bridge was the seventh longest covered bridge in the country. The bridge remained open to single lane motor traffic from its construction until it was burned by vandals on June 13, 1993. It was maintained by the Blount County Commission and the Alabama Department of Transportation.

History

The Nectar Covered Bridge was built by a crew led by Zelmer C. Tidwell and uncle Forrest Tidwell over a wide section of the Locust Fork. It was once a community meeting place and a site for large baptism ceremonies. A concrete bridge has since replaced the former covered bridge, but the old stone piers remain across the river...located south of the current crossover. During its existence, the Nectar Covered Bridge was said to have been haunted by the ghost of a mail carrier who had died there.

Photos of the Nectar Covered Bridge can be found on a covered bridge website created by Dale J. Travis (linked below).

See also

• List of Alabama covered bridges

Further reading

• Prince, A. G. (1981) Alabama's Covered Bridges: Past and Present. revised edition. Ensley: Best Printing Service
• Dale J. Travis Covered Bridges. Nectar CB: Credits. Retrieved September 24, 2007.
• Bridges to the Past: Alabama's Covered Bridges. Nectar CB: Credits. Retrieved September 24, 2007.
• BhamWiki. Nectar CB: Credits. Retrieved September 24, 2007.
• Southern Living: Tunnels in Time. Nectar CB: Credits. Retrieved September 24, 2007.
• The Birmingham News (July 17, 1972) news article. Retrieved October 30, 2007.
• Alabama Department of Archives and History. Nectar CB: Credits. Retrieved October 30, 2007.

External links

• Bridges to the Past: Alabama's Covered Bridges
• Nectar Covered Bridge (Dale J. Travis)