The Longest Covered Bridge In North Carolina, At Ole Gilliam Mill Park, Is 140 Feet Long
North Carolina’s covered bridges are actually numerous, in spite of the fact that only two are credited with being the oldest and only remaining original bridges in the state. At last count, this link listed 65 covered bridges within the confines of the Tar Heel State. Additionally, the same link credits a bridge in a historic park as being the longest covered bridge in North Carolina and measuring a whopping 140 feet in length. Let’s take a closer look:
The longest covered bridge in North Carolina can be found along NC-42 approximately six miles west of Sanford.
Located across NC-42 from the bridge, the bulk of the park includes a mill that is a near-exact replica of an earlier mill that washed away in the flood of 1928.
Now for the backstory: the near exact replica of the original mill was built, by hand, by a handful of locals — on the weekends.
Although the mill is an impressive replica that, at least on the exterior, appears to match the original in every way, it was reconstructed a bit upstream from the original.
In the early 2000s, the locals who owned the land and the mill donated it to Ole Gilliam Mill Park Foundation where it's now under the stewardship of the non-profit.
The park includes the mill, the bridge, several outbuildings, and a pond. It's also the sight of an annual event (the Old Mill CrankUp) that's famously popular not only with the locals, but also with motorcyclists and other visitors alike.
Beyond the construction — or perhaps even the reconstruction — of the covered bridge that occurred sometime in the early 2000s, not much is known about the bridge that crossed Pocket Creek prior to this covered bridge.
As seen in this image, an asphalt drive, complete with fading, double-yellow lines, leads up to the opening of the bridge — which is a pedestrian-only crossing, but we'll get to that in a moment.
As the longest covered bridge in the Tar Heel State, the bridge at Ole Gilliam Mill Park is apparently without a name, at least according to the list of bridges referenced above.
And crossing it on foot is a memorable experience, even if it doesn't seem to have an official name.
Oddly enough, over on the other side you may be surprised when you learn the surface of the bridge doesn't quite match up with the old double-line asphalt on the other side.
Instead, there are puzzling steps and at least a two-and-a-half-foot drop from the bridge to the road beneath, a good indication that this rendition of the covered bridge may never have been utilized for vehicular traffic.
Have you pulled over at Ole Gilliam Mill Park near Sanford to check out this red-roofed wooden bridge, the longest covered bridge in North Carolina?
And if so, did you realize it's the longest covered bridge in the state?
For more covered bridges to explore in North Carolina, check out the state’s oldest, Bunker Hill Covered Bridge, and the only other covered bridge billed as ‘original’ in the state: Pisgah Covered Bridge.
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