View source for Old Town Bridge (Franklin, Tennessee)

{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Old Town Bridge
| nrhp_type    =
| image        = Old Town Bridge.JPG
| caption      = The remains of Old Town Bridge, October 2014.
| nearest_city = [[Franklin, Tennessee]]
| coordinates  = {{coord|35|59|45|N|86|56|10|W|display=inline}}
| locmapin     = Tennessee#USA
| built        = 1801
| architect    = US Army
| architecture =
| added        = April 13, 1988
| area         = {{convert|1.4|acre}}
| mpsub        = {{NRHP url|id=64500624|title=Williamson County MRA}} (WM-47)
| refnum       = 88000325<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}
The '''Old Town Bridge''' in [[Franklin, Tennessee]] was a "frame bridge across Brown Creek near its junction with the Big Harpeth River."<ref name=MRA/>{{rp|46}} It was built by U.S. soldiers in 1801.  It carried the [[Harpeth River]] branch of the [[Natchez Trace]] over Brown's Creek. The [[bridge]] was rebuilt several times subsequently, but was dismantled some time before 1988. Only the limestone [[abutment]]s remained when the site was surveyed in 1988.<ref name=MRA/>{{rp|46}}
The bridge is "one of the oldest remaining man-made bridges in Tennessee".  A photograph of the bridge is available which shows the "structure consisted of massive masonry abutments with a short pole bridge suspended between them. Pole bridges were probably the most common type of bridge erected in frontier days and are still used today for simple county bridges. These bridges consist merely of poles (trees or logs) extending from one abutment to another with a deck of saplings or planks laid across these poles. Obviously these could be quite primitive with the ground or a natural feature such as a rock shelf serving as the abutments, but they could only be used for short spans. Some pole bridges used log cribs filled with rock and dirt as abutments."<ref name=history>{{cite web|url=http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/environment/historic/book/chapter2.pdf |title=A History of Bridge-Building in Tennessee |pages=24–25}}</ref>
This is considered to be the only site on the Natchez Trace in [[Williamson County, Tennessee]], that retains historic integrity.<ref name=MRA>{{cite web|author=Thomason Associates and Tennessee Historical Commission|url={{NRHP url|id=64500624}} |title=Historic Resources of Williamson County (Partial Inventory of Historic and Architectural Properties)], National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination|date=February 1988}}</ref>{{rp|46}}
It is located about 300 yards from [[Thomas Brown House (Franklin, Tennessee)|Thomas Brown House]], which is also NRHP-listed, and near a plaque to [[Old Town Archeological Site|Old Town]], an Indian village and mounds site.<ref name=McGuinness>{{cite web|author=Kelly McGuinness|url=http://www.franklinis.com/old-town-s98|title=Old Town|publisher=FranklinIs.com website|accessdate=January 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610080341/http://www.franklinis.com/old-town-s98|archive-date=June 10, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/environment/historic/book/chapter2.pdf A History of Bridge-Building in Tennessee]
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
[[Category:Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Franklin, Tennessee]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Williamson County, Tennessee]]
{{WilliamsonCountyTN-NRHP-stub}}
{{Tennessee-bridge-struct-stub}}