I have discovered a lot of communities have local caching groups that have a lot of fun together, so recently I decided to create a Geocaching Facebook group for Lynchburg and the surrounding counties. I hope that it will be a fruitful endeavor as we build and grow a friendly caching group.
I don’t know where you are from, whether you’re from the area or if you were just passing through, but if you are interested in becoming a member, check the group out at Lynchburg Virginia (VA) Area Geocachers.
We would enjoy having you, and feel free to in invite anyone else from the area as members of this group.
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During the Great Isolation of 2020, during COVID-19, I socially distanced by putting the top down and driving through Bedford County, VA, which is where I call home. As I drove around, I began to encounter so many one-lane bridges that I felt compelled to begin a new series called The Bridges of Bedford County.
I’m not sure how many caches will end up in this series, but most are micro bison tubes. You WILL need tweezers to retrieve this log. GC is glued in place. Simply unscrew top and retrieve with tweezers and be careful so that the log does not fall into the creek.
If there is a story about the bridge or the area around it, you will be able to read that below, and I will update it as I learn more.
Feel free to post a selfie of you and the bridge. I hope you enjoy this series!
***CONGRATS TO: Cindersma2 for the FTF***
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The current bridge is now a wood deck with a steel structure built in 1915. The elaborate stone abutment that the bridge sits on was constructed around 1850 to support a wooden bridge for the slave-built Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. This was a major railroad that was significant during the Civil War.
Union General William W. Averell, under the orders of Maj. General David Hunter, had the bridge burned and the rails destroyed as he was headed toward his raid on Lynchburg...a raid that ultimately failed.
The bridge was rebuilt and put back into service. The entire length of Elkton Farm Road was in fact the old rail bed of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. Due to numerous fatal train accidents the track was realigned to straighten it and moved to the southwest of where it is now, paralell to this stretch of Elkton Farm Road. In his march towards Lynchburg, General Averell led his soldiers right up this rail from Bedford through Forest destroying everything along the way including the Forest Depot (now the site of Rick's Antiques located near Burn Bridge Road).
(History provided by Bill Brown, Forest)
Facts:
Rebuilt in 1915 by the Camden Iron Works.
Design: Pratt deck truss
Dimensions:
Span length: 109.9 ft.
Total length: 109.9 ft.
Deck width: 11.2 ft.
Recognition: Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Virginia Bridge number: VA 2781