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A Program of the Historic Preservation Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Volume III, No. 2 March 2003 THE LEGACY OF HORACE KING orace King was born in In the early 1830s, Columbus was the largest border town bondage in Chesterfield on the Chattahoochee River. When the Creek Indians ceded land H District, South Carolina on in the 1832 Treaty of Cusseta, Alabama was opened for further September 8, 1807. At that time, westward expansion, and settlers migrated to the region. On the remnants of the Catawba Indian tribe Columbus side of the Chattahoochee, an investor established a had intermarried with slaves of South ferry to cross the river, but soon Columbus recognized the need for Carolina planters. His dying father, a bridge to connect Georgia and Alabama. The city issued an ad for Edmund King, and his mother, Susan, bids to construct the bridge, and John Godwin’s proposal was were slaves who shared mixed African, accepted in 1832. Soon Godwin and Horace King moved to Girard, Catawba, and white ancestry. In 1830, (presently Phenix City) Alabama to build the first public bridge King’s master died, and Horace King connecting the states. and his mother were sold in the estate Godwin and King quickly began construction of the first settlement to John Godwin. bridge across the Chattahoochee River, guaranteeing their John Godwin was a This circa 1850 photo of craftsmanship with a five-year warranty. The first bridge, spanning contractor who specialized in building Horace King appeared on the over 900 feet, was completed in 1833, and stood firm until 1838, houses and covered bridges. He was cover of Our Town, an when a flood washed it away. King rebuilt the bridge, and it stood familiar with a bridge design Introduction to the History until 1865, when it was destroyed during the Civil War. It was developed by Ithiel Town, a of Columbus, Georgia. known as the City Bridge and later the Dillingham Street Bridge. Connecticut bridge builder. Town With this accomplishment, Godwin’s reputation as a contractor patented his design, known as Town Lattice Truss, in 1820. His was established, and design consisted of a truss constructed with crisscrossed sawmill he and Horace, the lumber similar to a garden trellis, with wooden pegs reinforcing construction foreman, each intersection and horizontal chords at the top and bottom. continued their unique Town’s design concept was easily employed by carpenters to partnership, erecting construct single-span bridges over creeks. Horace King and John bridges across the Godwin successfully used the Town lattice truss design of a bridge Chattahoochee River, that crossed the Pee Dee River. Recognizing King’s talents, Godwin and solidifying their Dillingham Street Bridge, circa 1870. sent him to Ohio for training reputation as master to enhance his architectural covered bridge builders. skills. Godwin was a shrewd Godwin and King built a 540-foot bridge south of Columbus businessman who realized at Irwinton (presently Eufaula, Alabama) for $22,000. In 1838, Godwin that master covered bridge and King built the first bridge across the Chattahoochee River at builders were needed to West Point. In the fall of 2002, an underwater archaeologist project This rendering of the Pee Dee River oversee construction of team documented a surviving pier from this bridge. This training bridge appeared in Thomas and bridges to link rivers to the initiative was organized by Charles Kelly, historian for the Troup Edward French’s Covered Bridges expanding western frontier. County Archives. Ronnie Rogers, staff archaeologist for the of Georgia. Historic Preservation Division, also participated in the dive. continued on page 2 THE LEGACY OF HORACE KING continued from page 1 John Godwin and Horace King also built houses and In spite of King’s government buildings in Girard and Columbus from1830-1840. Upon successes, John Godwin’s their arrival in Girard, Godwin built the first house constructed by a financial fortunes declined. In white man in that town. King was the construction foreman for City 1846, Godwin was faced with Mills in Columbus, and financial ruin, and numerous worked on the Muscogee businessmen were offering County Courthouse in him as much as $6,000 for Columbus, and the Russell Horace King. Godwin and County Courthouse in King had developed a special Crawford, Alabama. friendship that transcended Throughout this decade, the master-slave relationship. Horace King is credited with King continued to improve Godwin, with the assistance of rebuilding this spiral staircase in the his Town truss bridge Robert Jemison, submitted a restored Alabama State Capitol. Photo by Jeanne Cyriaque The metal section in the center of City designs, perfecting his petition to the Alabama Mills was constructed by Horace King. technique for spans legislature to manumit (free) Photo by William Hover assembled over water Horace King. Jemison’s legal maneuver was successful, and Horace without power machinery. King became a free man by an act from the Alabama legislature on Horace King married Frances Thomas in 1839. Like King, February 2, 1846. During this antebellum period in Alabama history, she had mixed ancestry, and was the daughter of a free woman of free blacks were required to leave the state. To circumvent this color. The couple had four sons: Washington, Marshall Ney, John possibility for Horace King, the act stipulated a deposit of a $1,000 Thomas, and George, and one daughter, Annie Elizabeth. The King surety bond with Russell County. King personally paid the bond, children were born free since Frances Thomas was a free black ensuring his movement freely between the two states on woman. King personally trained his sons to build covered bridges, construction ventures. and after the Civil War, they started the King Bridge Company. In 1858, Nelson Tift, an Albany entrepreneur, developed a Annie Elizabeth also worked for the company. concept for a toll bridge across the Flint River. Tift failed in his attempts to convince city officials to build the bridge, and decided to implement the project himself, with Horace King as his construction foreman. At the time, King was scheduled to build a bridge across the Oconee River near Milledgeville. He had already The Bridge House in Albany, cut timbers for the project Dougherty County, was listed in the when a dispute developed on National Register of Historic Places the terms of the contract. on November 19, 1974. A tunnel in When Tift contacted King, he the rear of the building connected the shipped the timbers by rail to house to the Horace King bridge. Albany for the house and Photo by Jeanne Cyriaque tunnel that connected to the The Red Oak Creek Covered Bridge was built by Horace King circa 1840. bridge. It is the oldest covered bridge in Georgia, and was listed in the National Though Horace King was legally free, he continued to Register of Historic Places on May 7, 1973. The bridge truss is constructed work on bridges and houses with John Godwin. In 1859, John from heart of pine boards, and over 2,500 treenails, each approximately a Godwin died, leaving no estate for his wife and children. Horace foot long, hold it together. Photo by Jeanne Cyriaque King paid his burial expenses, and provided a residence for his As Horace King’s reputation as a builder spread, his skills widow and children. The Godwin family still owned a sawmill came to the attention of other southern businessmen who partnered business in Girard, and Horace King and his sons continued with Godwin on construction projects. Robert Jemison, a operation of the business during the Civil War, while Godwin’s son Tuscaloosa lawyer, Alabama legislator, and owner of a successful served as an artillery captain in the Confederate Army. Horace saw mill business and stagecoach line, coordinated a number of King erected a $600 Masonic monument in honor of John Godwin building contracts for Godwin with King as the construction in the family cemetery in Girard. The inscription reads “this stone foreman. Among their joint ventures were roads in Georgia, bridges was placed here by Horace King in last remembrance of the love spanning the Chattahoochee, and the reconstruction of the Alabama and gratitude he felt for his lost friend and former master.” State Capitol in 1849 following a fire. 2 After Godwin’s death, Robert Jemison secured building prominent Methodist minister in LaGrange, and Horace King lived contracts in Alabama for Horace King. Their largest venture was with him until his death on May 28, 1885. Horace and Marshall the construction of the (Bryce) Alabama Insane Hospital, built in King are buried near the Confederate Cemetery on Miller Street Tuscaloosa in 1860. The hospital and the spiral staircase in the in LaGrange. state capitol are the only existing historic resources built by Horace In Georgia today, two of Horace King’s bridges remain. King in Alabama. The Meriwether County Historical Society is the steward for the Red Oak Creek Bridge. The bridge was restored by the Georgia Department of Transportation and is open to foot traffic. Located in a community known as Imlac near Woodbury, it is appropriately accessible off “Covered Bridge Road” and connects to Georgia state highway 85. In 1965, the Wehadkee Creek Bridge in Troup County was soon to be immersed in water with the construction of the West Point Dam, and county officials donated a 60ft section to Callaway Gardens. The Ida Cason Callaway Foundation, a nonprofit organization, assumed stewardship of this historic resource. Though not currently available for public view, the foundation plans to incorporate the bridge as the gateway to a natural grass pasture After the 1994 flood, a canoe paddled through the reserve in its future development plans.