Springtime at Meems – Artist Proof

Description

Meems Bottom Covered Bridge is located between Mt. Jackson and Luray, Virginia. The current bridge was built in 1894 by Franklin Wissler to provide access to his apple orchards at Strathmore Farms. The 204-foot, single-span, Burr arch truss bridge is the longest remaining covered bridge in the state. It was burned by vandals in 1976, but the original timbers were salvaged and the bridge was reconstructed and eventually undergirded with steel beams and concrete piers. At least two earlier bridges occupied the site. Records show that one bridge was burned in 1862 as Confederate General Stonewall Jackson went up the Valley ahead of Union General John C. Fremont, prior to the battles of Harrisonburg, Cross Keys, and Port Republic. Another was washed away in a flood in 1870.