South Indian Creek, Flag Pond, TN

Only a few people remember when U.S. 23 was just about the only way to get from Kingsport to Asheville, North Carolina. These days, most people zip along Interstate 26 from Tennessee to Carolina over the mountain without ever knowing that the old route on the Tennessee side just downhill from Sams Gap, features a century-old bridge still gallantly standing as a testament to early motor travel between the two states.  This bridge may be the only one left on the old Kingsport to Asheville route that even predates U.S. 23.
Coming down the mountain towards Erwin, the Old Asheville Highway made its first crossing over South Indian Creek just north of Flag Pond, Tennessee.  The bridge is an early two-span, one lane, closed-spandrel concrete arch bridge built in 1917. Its two arches are of the parapet style, meaning the railing is actually a continuous part of the bridge deck.  The South Indian Creek Bridge is 75 feet long with the longest span 37 feet in length.  In 1930, the road and the one lane bridge were designated State Highway 81/U.S. 23.
The arch bridge construction looks like a famed "Luten" bridge built by the Luten Bridge Company of Indianapolis and the company did have a branch office in Knoxville, building many bridges in Tennessee.  Although the company did construct another two-span, parapet, closed spandrel concrete arch bridge on South Indian Creek in Unicoi County in 1918, this bridge built the previous year could have been a Luten Bridge, too. Records for this bridge don't specify its bridgebuilder.
The South Indian Creek Bridge is also called the Church Bridge, because the Jenny Moore Memorial Presbyterian Church sits right at the south bridge entrance.  Although State Highway 81/U.S. 23 had long since been rerouted around the one-lane crossing, this bridge was closed to traffic in 2010 and has become a pedestrian bridge for overflow parking at the church. 


Elements of the bridge are slowly crumbling away, exposing much of the rebar in the concrete, but admittedly it's in better shape than some other closed and open spandrel arch bridges in upper East Tennessee, which we will also visit in future stories. Meanwhile as U.S. 23 is now part of Interstate 26 and the Old Asheville Highway still runs a parallel route near this historic bridge, a remembrance of the days when traveling the curvy, mountainous roads from Kingsport to Asheville was an adventure to behold.

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