Illinois Covered Bridges - Thompson Mill

Thompson Mill Covered Bridge
5/26/2019  dwm photo

While collecting covered bridges over the past ten years - I've noticed there are three types of locations.

The bridge is saved, but relegated to a park with no water.

The bridge might be where it was built, but the formerly modest traffic is handled by a major road.

Then there are the bridges off the beaten path.  Way off the beaten path, in fact.

The Thompson Mill Bridge was so isolated, I swore hearing banjos as I navigated a narrow gravel road that dropped into a flood plain in the middle of nowhere.

 It is northeast of Cowden, Illinois a community of 612 souls when it was counted in the 2000.

The bridge is hauntingly beautiful.

A distant view of the bridge.  5/26/2019 (dwm)

When I parked the car, I heard dogs across the river and the sound of a boat motor.

As I got out, a boat was drowned out by the humming of insects.

I'm not sure what they were - wasps or hornets, perhaps.  Or possibly the largest Bumble Bees I've ever seen.  They kept their distance.

Despite the location, this bridge was a workhorse early on as a link on the heavily used road between Effingham and the state capitol of Springfield.

Thompson Mill bridge over the
Kaskaskia river. Photo taken from
 its modern replacement
5/26/2019 (dwm)

The bridge was important for locals, as it made for a shorter trip to the Thompson grain and saw mills.

Mr. Thompson was an early settler and businessman, immortalized with his name on a bridge.

The south side of the bridge (hill on photo at left) connects to a climbing narrow road.

I imagined the difficulty drivers of wagons and stage coaches had controlling teams of horses as they descended the hill.

The bridge is only 10 feet, 7 inches wide; the narrowest in Illinois.

Whatever happened to Nolan and
Stephanie?  5/26/19  dwm photo

Maybe they paid by the width.  It cost just $2,500 when it was built in Michigan in 1868.

From there it was carried to Shelbyville, Illinois (by train is my guess) then down to the river by horse-drawn wagons.

The 161 foot bridge has spanned the Kaskaskia River ever since, virtually untouched.  It is worth the adventurous drive.

You can read about more bridges in the upper Midwest by following this link.