West Union Covered Bridge (West Virginia)

[1] According to an early resident, A.A. Bee, "The first bridge across Middle Island Creek [at West Union] was of hewed logs with a center abutment of stones.

In 1842, a contract for a replacement was awarded to the well-known civil engineer Colonel Benoît "Claudius" Crozet (1789–1864).

[2] Ephraim Bee (1802–1888), a local blacksmith, magistrate, and state legislator, made all the iron bolts and bands for the bridge, which was completed in 1843.

The West Union Covered Bridge was destroyed after 107 years in a long-remembered flood that devastated the region in June 1950.

The bridge collapsed into the river below, and, because officials feared that it would dam the flood water and create more problems, the still intact wooden structure was demolished.

The West Union Covered Bridge as it appeared in the early 20th century.
Crozet was a French civil engineer who immigrated to the U.S. becoming known as the "Pathfinder of the Blue Ridge".
Detail of Fowler's "West Union, West Virginia, USA, 1899", showing the West Union Covered Bridge and its environs. Mountain Maid Mills (#10) is just downstream of the bridge.