Georgia DOT Bridge No. 185-5021-0, Carries Old Quitman Highway over CSX Railroad/Former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, Valdosta

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER GA-171. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Old Quitman Highway over a section of CSX railroad in Lowndes County, approximately four miles southwest of Valdosta, Georgia. The bridge is located at latitude: longitude: The coordinate represents the approximate center of the bridge, both by width and length. This coordinate was obtained by plotting a point on Google Earth on May 20, The UTM coordinates were then converted to decimal degrees using North American Datum (NAD83). The location has no restriction on its release to the public.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER GA-171. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Georgia DOT Bridge No. is an early example of a five- span reinforced concrete T-beam bridge. It is also an early example of a grade separated crossing bridge along a state highway. Built in this bridge is reflective of the state highway department s early efforts to build bridges along the newly designated State Routes The bridge retains its non-standard paneled concrete parapets. It is also one of the few remaining bridges designed by Garrett and Slack, an engineering firm that designed many of the bridges built during the early years of the highway department.1

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER GA-171. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

This project was undertaken to comply with Stipulation 1 of Memorandum of Agreement among the Federal Highway Administration, Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer for GDOT Project County Road 136/Old State Route 38/US 84 Over CSX Railroad, Number Identification Number Lowndes County, Georgia, which required a history of both the community and railroad be included in this record.2 The HAER field team consisted of David Diener (photographer) and Wesley Nimmo (historian), both with New South Associates. 1 A.G.

Lichtenstein and Associates, Inc., Georgia Historic Bridge Survey, Bridge Form, Georgia Department of Transportation; Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Transportation Historic Bridge Management Plan, Bridge # Georgia Department of Transportation. 2 Georgia Department of Transportation, Memorandum of Agreement among the Federal Highway Administration, Georgia Department of Transportation, and Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer for GDOT Project County Road 136/Old State Route 38/US 84 Over CSX Railroad, Number Project Identification Number Lowndes County, Georgia, HP- Georgia State Historic Preservation Office. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 2 ) Part I. Historical Information A. Physical History 1. Date of construction: 2.

Engineer: Garrett and Slack, of Montgomery, Alabama, for the Georgia State Highway Department. In Garrett and Slack was contracted by the highway department to design at least three bridges, including Georgia DOT Bridge No. for improvements on Rural Free Delivery Route 5 in Lowndes-Brooks counties. This route was designated SR 38 in when the department established the state highway system. Garrett and Slack designed many of the early bridges built by the highway department, though only a few remain due to changing bridge standards in the twentieth century.3 Searcy B. Slack, originally from LaGrange, Georgia, earned his Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Georgia in and his Master of Science from Harvard the next year.

Before joining the highway department, he worked as the city engineer for LaGrange, as the Troup County surveyor, then as a U.S. Army Engineer, and finally as a consultant for the firm of Garrett and Slack, where he consulted in some of the highway department s first federal-aid bridge projects between and 3. Builder: Georgia State Highway Department. 4. Original plans and construction: The only available plans for this bridge are dated August and were found with documents from multiple projects associated with Federal Aid Project 3.

These plans are marked as revised, suggesting there may be earlier plans that date to the period of construction, which is There are three plan sheets: one that provides a profile and plan view of the bridge, another that displays detail projections and cross sections of the bents, deck, and parapet, and a final sheet that shows both the intersection of the new road, SR 38, with a section of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and a cross section of the embankments that were built to carry the road over the tracks. 5. Alterations and additions: No alterations or additions are known, but changes in the appearance of the bridge have been made by damage from vehicular traffic and a lack of repairs.

The spans on the northern section of the bridge are misaligned and there is evidence of the parapets being impacted. These factors 3 Lichtenstein and Associates, Inc., Georgia Historic Bridge Survey, Bridge Form, ; Manufacturers Publicity Bureau, Bridge Building in Georgia: Curved Approach Necessary in Structure Over Flint River, Successful Methods: A Magazine of Construction Service, January 4 Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers, Historic Bridge Inventory Update: Historic Contexts, 44; John William Leonard, Who s Who in Engineering, vol. 1 (New York: John W. Leonard Corporation, GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 3 ) have caused the eastern parapet at span 5 to lean outward.

The fascia on the easternmost beam of span 5, directly below the leaning parapet, is spalling and the reinforced steel in this section is exposed.5 B. Historical Context: Bridge and Engineer History Georgia DOT Bridge No. was designed by the engineering firm Garrett and Slack and constructed in by the Georgia State Highway Department as part of the improvements to the newly built SR 38. It was built as part of Federal Aid Project 3, which was one of the earliest state highway improvement projects in Georgia. The road improvements were completed on SR 38 between and and these included the grading of roads, surfacing the roads with sand-clay, and constructing bridges. Sand-clay was created by mixing one-part sand with two-parts clay.

The mixture was then spread over the road, where exposure to weather and traffic created a hard-surface roadway.6 Searcy B. Slack, a principal member of the firm Garret and Slack, was selected in by Neel, Georgia s State Highway Engineer, to head up the state highway department s new bridge division that was created in that year.7 Neel recognized the importance of permanent bridges to span rivers and connect Georgia s roads. These permanent bridges were to be built of lasting and easily available materials like reinforced concrete, and would take the form of T-beam, slab, and arch constructions. In Neel created the new State Highway Bridge Department to design these more permanent bridges.

When Slack became State Bridge Engineer, he inherited an overwhelming number of outdated, temporary, and wooden bridges that would not accommodate the new requirements of the increasingly popular motor vehicle. He immediately began building as many reinforced concrete bridges as possible with two desired outcomes: first, to help contractors become proficient in the technology and second, because Slack believed it would result in higher quality work and more reasonable bids.

Many of these early concrete bridges were built to standard designs, especially slab and T-beam bridges less than 50' long.8 Through the promotion of standardized design and use of reinforced concrete, Slack oversaw the construction of 217 bridges by the close of Between and Georgia constructed a total of 23 miles of bridges, 19 percent of the length of all federal-aid bridges built at that time, and became a nationally recognized leader 5 Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Transportation Historic Bridge Management Plan, Bridge # 6 Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers, Historic Bridge Inventory Update: Historic Contexts (Atlanta, Georgia: Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Environmental Location, 21 22.

7 Lichtenstein and Associates, Inc., Georgia Historic Bridge Survey, Bridge Form, 8 Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers, Historic Bridge Inventory Update: Historic Contexts, 44. 9 Kristin L. Lockerman, Clarence N. Crocker and Georgia s Twentieth-Century Historic Bridges (Master Thesis, University of Georgia, 23. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 4 ) in low-cost, efficient bridge construction.10 One reason for that statistic was that Neel allocated a large portion of the highway department s federal aid to bridge construction.

A second reason was that Slack emphasized replacing the low-water bridges and ferry crossings in the numerous low-lying areas of the state with longer and higher bridges that crossed over stream and floodplain, keeping roads passable even during high water periods. During the mid-1920s, Slack also worked to increase the number of railroad grade-crossing elimination bridges in the state.11 Under Slack s leadership of the bridge division, which lasted from to the state s original set of bridge standards were expanded and updated to meet the requirements of automobiles and trucks. Roadway widths were increased from between 16' and 18' to between 20' and Additionally, steel stringer, or rolled beam, bridges were accepted along with reinforced concrete as standard bridge types.

Like concrete, steel was becoming more readily available and affordable, and Slack reasoned that they would be easier to modify if the need arose. Slack promoted the design of lengthy multi-span bridges that were economical to build by minimizing both construction and material costs. Slack was foremost concerned with economy, and favored a functional, unadorned aesthetic and through his leadership, Georgia rose to the forefront of standardized continuous-span bridge design.12 Materials and Design History Georgia DOT Bridge No. is an early example of a reinforced concrete T-beam bridge, a popular bridge design during the early years of the Georgia State Highway Department.13 Although Searcy B.

Slack, both as a member of Garrett and Slack and then later as State Bridge Engineer, designed many reinforced concrete T-beam bridges in the late-1910s and most of these were replaced or widened due to their narrow roadway widths.14 Reinforced concrete was introduced as a bridge-building material in the United States in and its popularity in bridge designs grew in the early twentieth century.15 Concrete is created by mixing crushed stone or gravel with wet cement, which then cures and forms a hard and durable material. Though cement is a strong material, its strength is reduced in areas of high tension. Since bridge construction requires components that are able to resist the pressure of heavy loads, another material must be added to the concrete.

Steel bars, a building material with high tensile strength, are incorporated into areas of high tension in 10 Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers, Historic Bridge Inventory Update: Historic Contexts, 45. 11 Ibid., 42 43. 12 Ibid., 47. 13 Ibid., 76. 14 Ibid., 41, 43 44. 15 Ibid. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 5 ) these bridge designs to alleviate the concrete s weakness. The addition of the steel bars creates reinforced concrete, a composite material formed through the bonding of the concrete and steel during construction.16 T-beam bridges are a combination of cast-in-place reinforced concrete beams, which are created by placing steel bars within the concrete beam sections, with integral monolithic flanking deck sections.

Reinforcing steel is also placed in the deck, perpendicular to the beams. The integral connection between the beam and deck sections, when proportioned to the correct deck thickness and spacing and size of the beams, make a light, strong, and economical bridge design. The economy of the materials used, and the low long-term maintenance of T-beam bridges made them popular in many state highway departments in the early twentieth century.

Reinforced concrete T-beam bridge designs were included in the Georgia State Highway Department s first bridge standards developed in the late Though changes were made to the designs over the years, reinforced concrete T-beam bridges remained one of the most common bridge types constructed in Georgia between the and Railroad grade-crossing elimination bridges are bridges that are built over railroads to avoid creating intersections of railroad tracks and roads used by vehicles. When railroads were first built in the nineteenth century, grade-crossings were mostly an urban issue, but as the use of locomotives and automobiles spread in the early twentieth century, the problem also began to impact rural areas.

Farmers wagons and draft animals were also endangered by grade- crossings, particularly because draft animals were likely to bolt out or stall on the tracks in front of passing trains.18 The issue of grade-crossings was a priority of the Georgia State Highway Department from its establishment in and by they proposed requiring the railroad companies to fund bridges to eliminate the problem. Though they were never forced to fully fund the construction of these bridges, the railroads were required by law in to begin partially funding them, alongside the State Highway Department. Many of the grade-crossing elimination bridges built in Georgia before were constructed as part of federal-aid projects, including Georgia DOT Bridge No.

which was built as part of Federal Aid Project Many of the bridges built during the earliest years of the highway department were obsolete within fifteen years after their construction due to the increasing size and speed of automobiles in the The standard width of bridges in the state was updated from between 16' and 18' to between 20' and 22' to accommodate these changes and make the bridges safer for the larger and faster vehicles. Georgia DOT Bridge No. was not replaced or widened and is one of only a few extant examples in Georgia of this bridge type built before It is also one of only two extant bridges in Georgia with a unique style of 16 Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers, 14. 17 Ibid., 14 15, 75 56. 18 Ibid., 30, 49. 19 Ibid., 28 30, 49. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No.

GA-171 (Page 6 ) paneled concrete parapets. Within the last decade, Lowndes County has deemed the bridge unsafe, due to its width and other characteristics, such as the lack of guide rails along the approaches. In the county closed the bridge to all traffic.20 Railroad History Georgia DOT Bridge No. was originally built to carry traffic on RFD Route 38 over a section of railroad that was at the time part of the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL). This section of track was laid in as part of the Atlantic & Gulf Railroad (A&G). In two competing railroad companies, the Brunswick & Florida Railroad and the Savannah, Albany & Gulf Railroad (SA&G), agreed to build a trunk line together, which would connect the cities of Brunswick and Savannah with southwestern Georgia.

SA&G continued to operate under their own name until when the company was merged into the A&G. Between and people enslaved by both the SA&G and local enslavers built tracks that connected Screven, Georgia, northeast of Valdosta, to Thomasville, Georgia, west of Valdosta.21 The construction reached Valdosta in July of and by the track to Thomasville was complete, including the section currently under Georgia DOT Bridge No. In Henry Bradley Plant, originally of Connecticut, purchased the A&G at a foreclosure sale, and at that time, the railroad consisted of 350 miles of track. The mainline of the A&G, which included the section that crosses under Georgia DOT Bridge No. today, was 237 miles long and connected Savannah to Bainbridge, Georgia.

Plant organized the Savannah, Florida & Western Railway from his purchase of the A&G and used it to develop a larger network of railroads. Between and Plant built an empire of hotels, steamships, and railroads, which made travel and transportation faster along the Southern coast.23 Plant purchased and built many railroads during the two last decades of the nineteenth century, and his growing network of railroads became known as the Plant System. Following his purchase of A&G/SF&W, he bought the Savannah & Charleston Railroad, which connected with in Savannah.

In Florida and southern Georgia, Plant built two railroads, the Eastern Florida Railroad and the Waycross & Florida Railroad, which joined at the state line and reduced the travel time between Waycross, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida.

This new route, known as the Waycross Short Line, made travel between ports on 20 Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Transportation Historic Bridge Management Plan, Bridge # 21 Daughters of the American Revolution, History of Lowndes County, Georgia (Valdosta, Georgia: General James Jackson Chapter, DAR, 22 Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey (Georgia Department of Transportation, 23 24; Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey: Appendix C, Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) (Georgia Department of Transportation, 2.

23 Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey, 47 48, 53; Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey: Appendix C, Atlantic Coast Line (ACL), 2. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 7 ) opposite ends of the Southern coastline faster as well. Plant also created the Plant Investment Company in to oversee his rail interests and continue purchasing other railroads, such as the Alabama Midland Railway, which he gained control over in After Plant s death in his heirs broke apart the Plant System empire.

In as part of the division and sell-off of his estate, the Plant System network of railroads were sold to the ACL.24 During the first half of the twentieth century, the ACL continued to expand their network of railroads in southern Georgia, but there were no changes or additions to the tracks immediately southwest of Valdosta, Georgia, where Georgia DOT Bridge No. is located today. The ACL merged with their competitor, Seaboard Air Line, in and formed a new railroad company, the Seaboard Coast Line In SCL was made an affiliate of the newly formed CSX Corporation, a holding company formed to merge the Seaboard Coast Line and another railroad, the Chessie System. SCL began operating as a unit of CSX in under the name Seaboard System.

The merger was completed in and Seaboard System officially became The majority of the central portion of the mainline, which was purchased by ACL and eventually became is still in service today.25 Community History Though the land surrounding Georgia DOT Bridge No. is currently wooded and rural, it was once the center of a large plantation and manufacturing operation known as Kinderlou. Prior to European and Euro-American settlement, this area was home to several groups of Indigenous peoples, including the Timucua, Hitchiti, Seminole, and Muscogee (Creek).26 The Euro-American family that established and expanded Kinderlou were the descendants of John William Spain, who moved to Lowndes County in the early with his mother, Rachel Inman Spain Jones, and his stepfather, Francis Jones.

Several plantations were established by Jones and Spain in the area that is today between US 84 and SR including Forest Hill and Eudora Plantations, both on the southern side of the Withlacoochee River.27 24 Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey, 47 48, 53; Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey: Appendix C, Atlantic Coast Line (ACL), 2 3. 25 Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey: Appendix C, Atlantic Coast Line (ACL), 3 4; Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey, 144 45.

26 Lowndes County Historical Society and Museum, Early Lowndes History, Lowndes County Historical Society and Museum, 27 Ray City Community Library, Lowndes Grand Jury of Blog, Ray City History Blog, June 9, Ray City Community Library, Grand Jurors of Lowndes County, GA, Blog, Ray City History Blog, June 7, lowndes-county-ga/; Jean K. Buckley, Eudora Plantation, Nomination Form, National Park Service, NPGallery, GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 8 ) Francis Jones also established a plantation on the northern side the Withlacoochee, referred to as Jones Crossing.28 Georgia DOT Bridge No. is located on land that was once part of Jones Crossing. Following Francis Jones death in his estate was split between his wife, Rachel, and his brothers and sisters.

Rachel received the land at Jones Crossing in the division of Jones estate.29 A decade before Francis Jones death, his stepson, John William Spain, married a woman named Elizabeth Young.

The couple went on to have three children, including a daughter named Rachel Lavinia Spain.30 Family histories assert that after Rachel Jones death in Jones Crossing was directly passed to her granddaughters, Rachel and Sallie Spain, rather than willing the land to her son, John William, who already had his own plantation in Brooks County.31 The Savannah, Albany & Gulf Railroad began constructing their new trunk line through the Jones and Spain plantations in Local enslaved people were forced to build the railroad, and it is likely that many of the more than one hundred enslaved African Americans held by John William Spain and his mother worked on the construction of the railroad bed and tracks.32 According to local and family histories, a civil engineer named George Randolph McRee was working on the railroad during this time, and while surveying in the area he met Rachel Lavinia Spain.

Rachel Jones invited the railroad crew to stay in her home while they were working near Jones Crossing, and there McRee met and developed a relationship with Rachel Spain. After the outbreak of the Civil War, McRee left the area and joined the Confederate Army. In he took a leave of absence from the war and married Rachel.

After the war, he returned to the area and the couple settled at Jones Crossing.33 28 Catherine McRee Carter, History of Kinderlou, Georgia, 1 3, Lowndes County Historical Society; Daughters of the American Revolution, History of Lowndes County, Georgia, 29 Georgia, United States of America, Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, Francis Jones, Ancestry.com, Folks Huxford, The History of Brooks County, Georgia (Homerville, Georgia: Daughters of the American Revolution, 550 51, 30 Georgia, United States of America, Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, John W Spain, Find A Grave, John William Spain, FindAGrave.com, 31 Carter, History of Kinderlou, Georgia, 1 3. 32 Bureau of the Census, United States of America, U.S.

Federal Census - Slave Schedules, John W Spain, Lowndes, Georgia, Bureau of the Census, United States of America, U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules, Rachel Jones, Lowndes, Georgia, Daughters of the American Revolution, History of Lowndes County, Georgia, 33 Daughters of the American Revolution, History of Lowndes County, Georgia, William J. Northen, ed., Men of Mark in Georgia, vol. 6 (Atlanta, Georgia: A. B. Caldwell, 44; Carter, History of Kinderlou, Georgia, 2 3. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No.

GA-171 (Page 9 ) Between and George and Rachel McRee had four sons, William Spain McRee, Edward Jones McRee, Frank Inman McRee, and George Young McRee.34 Rachel died in before any of her sons had reached adulthood, which led George s sister, Louisa McRee, to move in with George and raise them. In the the four young men began to manage the operation of the plantation alongside their father. During this time, they renamed the plantation Kinderlou, or children of Lou, as a way to honor the mother-figure in their lives. By the turn of the twentieth century, a small village of farm laborers and tradesmen had developed at Kinderlou, located between the houses of the McRees.35 It sat along the tracks of the railroad, approximately one mile east of the current location of Georgia DOT Bridge No.

Over the last three decades of the nineteenth century, George Randolph McRee built a massive plantation from his wife s inheritance. The industries that were active on his plantation included naval stores, a dairy, and a farm that grew many different types of truck crops. McRee also grew tobacco and established a cigar manufacturing operation that included the construction of five, approximately 80' tobacco barns for curing, along with hiring Cuban workers to make the cigars. Prior to the McRee legally hired African Americans to work on his plantation, but eventually turned to leasing convicts from the state of Georgia. George McRee died in and the four sons then began operating the plantation under the name McRee Brothers.

Between and the labor policies at Kinderlou continued to change, and eventually developed into a system of peonage, or debt slavery.36 As they gained more control over the farming operations at Kinderlou, the four McRee brothers transformed their father s large plantation into a center of manufacturing. The operation at Kinderlou was so large that by it had its own spur running from the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad into one of the largest storehouses on the plantation.37 The McRee Brothers enterprise included facilities that allowed them to manufacture cotton bales, syrup from sugar, cigars, and wood planks, crates, and baskets. For many of their products, they could raise and then harvest the material, process it into a final product, and then package and ship it themselves.

The facilities included a cotton gin, a cotton compress, steam engines to convert sugar into syrup, a sawmill, a steam dry kiln to process wood, and a planing mill. They also had a basket and crate factory, which likely utilized much of the 34 Find A Grave, George Randolph McRee, FindAGrave.com, 35 Kinderlou Custom Homes, About Kinderlou Forest, Kinderlou Custom Homes, Douglas A. Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name (New York, New York: Anchor-Doubleday, Carter, History of Kinderlou, Georgia, 8 9. 36 Daughters of the American Revolution, History of Lowndes County, Georgia, Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name, 249 50.

37 Sanborn Map Company, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia (New York The Sanborn Map Company, 14, Digital LIbrary of Georgia, University of Georgia Libraries Map Collection, GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 10 ) wood being otherwise harvested on the plantation for naval stores. These wood storage items were then either shipped out for sale or used to transport other goods produced at the plantation.38 The McRee Brothers massive manufacturing empire required a great deal of labor, and they gradually began to rely on illegal peonage labor as a source. During the first years of the twentieth century, reports were published in Georgia newspapers accusing the McRees of cruel treatment toward the convicts leased to them at Kinderlou.

As the news spread, state prison officials in Georgia removed the convicts they still had working there, creating a shortage of labor on the plantation. In order to solve their labor shortage, the four brothers devised a plan with sheriffs across six counties in southern Georgia to force African Americans into peonage. African American men, women, and children, who had either committed or were falsely accused of petty crimes, were arrested and the McRees then paid either their fines or attorney s fees. The brothers then required the African Americans to work at Kinderlou, in order to pay off their debt.

Federal investigators discovered the scheme in and the McRees were indicted and plead guilty in November of that year.39 Though McRee Brothers continued operating for about a decade after this scandal, it is likely the brothers found it increasingly more difficult to hire the amount of labor required to run their massive operation. Following the deaths of three of the brothers between and the McRee Brothers company was dissolved and the family lands were sold off by their widows.40 When the construction of SR 38 began in Lowndes County, most of the land that was once part of Kinderlou was owned by the widow of William Spain McRee, Mary Wyche Jones McRee.

Road plans for SR 38 and deeds also show that in John Bray, another logging and naval stores businessman in the area, had purchased the land on the southern side of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad at the future location of Georgia DOT Bridge No. By John Bray owned most of the lands previously known as Kinderlou, and at that time transferred them to his company, the J. N. Bray Company.41 Bray s purchase of the lands ended the Jones/Spain/McRee family s century-long ownership of the land, but logging operations that had been occurring on the plantation since the late nineteenth-century continued. By the J. N.

Bray Company controlled all of the land in the area around Kinderlou and continued to utilize it for logging.42 38 Sanborn Map Company, 14; Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name, 39 John Dittmer, Black Georgia in the Progressive Era, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 72 75; Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name, 249 53. 40 Atlanta Constitution, Suit Entered for Old Home: Interesting Litigation in Lowndes County, Atlanta Constitution, January 29, Carter, History of Kinderlou, Georgia, 17 18. 41 Carter, History of Kinderlou, Georgia, 18. 42 State Highway Department of Georgia, Plan and Profile of Proposed State Highway, Federal Aid Project Lowndes County, Valdosta to Quitman Road (State Route No.

38) (Atlanta, Georgia, Office of the County Clerk, Lowndes County, Georgia, Lowndes County, Georgia, Deed Book 6J (Valdosta, Georgia, 75 81; Daughters of the American Revolution, History of Lowndes County, Georgia, GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 11 ) In Harley Langdale son of Judge and conservationist Harley Langdale purchased the J. N. Bray Company s land holdings in the Kinderlou area.43 The Langdale family was also in the naval stores business as the Langdale Company, but Langdale Sr. recognized that the excessive logging in southern Georgia had resulted in deforestation. He realized that if better practices were not created, the naval stores industry could collapse. In Langdale Sr.

helped establish the American Turpentine Farmers Association, which promoted conservation through the use of better harvesting methods and encouraging producers to only harvest trees that were at least 9" in diameter. After purchasing the lands around Kinderlou, the Langdale family began using them as a conservation laboratory, where they cultivated species native to southern Georgia, such as the Yellow Pine.

They also created an environment that aided in the repopulation of the White-tailed deer in the area.44 The Langdale family continues to own the area, and in the early they established a golfing community on the north side of US 84, called Kinderlou Forest.45 In the Langdale Agricultural District, which includes much of the land originally associated with the community at Jones Crossing/Kinderlou, was recommended Eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places Part II. Structural/Design Information A. General Statement: 1. Character: Georgia DOT Bridge No. is a T-beam bridge and features non-standard paneled concrete parapets.

The bridge is a complete, early example of this bridge type and is also a good early example of a grade separated crossing elimination bridge in a rural setting. 2. Condition of fabric: Fair substructure and superstructure, and poor deck fabric. B. Description: Georgia DOT Bridge No. is a five-span reinforced concrete T- beam bridge that carries Old Quitman Highway, a section of former SR 38, over a section of CSX Railroad. The bridge is x with four 22' outer spans and one 44' central span. The beams of the central, or third, span are deeper than those of the approach spans. The webs of the T-beams on the second and fourth spans are curved to align with the beam depth of the third span.

The deck was originally paved with 4" of concrete and was later paved with asphalt, though the asphalt has worn down and most of the concrete deck is currently exposed. The railings of the bridge are composed of non- standard, paneled concrete parapets. The flanges of the outer T-beams are cantilevered, and these sections support the parapets. Brackets extend from the webs of the T-beams at the ends of each span, to support the cantilevered sections. Due to the vertical curve of 43 Office of the County Clerk, Lowndes County, Georgia, Lowndes County, Georgia, Deed Book 6J, 75 81. 44 Annie Williams, Property Information Form: The Langdale Agricultural District, 45 Kinderlou Custom Homes, About Kinderlou Forest. 46 Williams, Property Information Form: The Langdale Agricultural District.

GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 12 ) the roadway, the curb and parapet extend farther out on the northwestern and southeastern corners of the bridge, and an 8' section of roadway connects the deck to the main road on each end of the bridge. The width of the roadway on the bridge is Six, three column concrete bents support the bridge, and the height of each of the bents was designed to match the height of the embankment of the railroad cut. The third and fourth bents have concrete crash walls between their columns, adjacent to the railroad tracks. The two end bents, bent one and six, feature large brackets that extend out and over the bottom portion of the outer T-beams flanges.48 C.

Site Information: The bridge carries a two-lane, former state highway over railroad tracks that are currently owned and operated by The bridge is located immediately south of US Route and approximately four and a half miles west of Interstate 75. The section of railroad tracks beneath the bridge were once part of the Atlantic Coastline Railroad and are considered Eligible for inclusion in the The surrounding area is wooded, and the bridge is bordered on its northern, eastern, and southern sides by the Langdale Agricultural District. This approximately 4,400-acre agricultural district is considered Eligible for inclusion in the Part III. Sources of Information A. Primary

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER GA-171. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Atlanta Constitution. Suit Entered for Old Home: Interesting Litigation in Lowndes County. Atlanta Constitution. January 29, Bureau of the Census, United States of America. U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules, John W Spain, Lowndes, Georgia, Ancestry.com. &_phstart=successSource. Bureau of the Census, United States of America. U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules, Rachel Jones, Lowndes, Georgia, Ancestry.com _phstart=successSource. 47 Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Transportation Historic Bridge Management Plan, 0. 48 Lichtenstein and Associates, Inc., Georgia Historic Bridge Survey, Bridge Form, 49 Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Transportation Historic Bridge Management Plan, 0. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No.

GA-171 (Page 13 ) Georgia, United States of America. Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, John W Spain, Ancestry.com. content/view/206677:4766. Georgia, United States of America. Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, Francis Jones, Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com. Georgia Department of Transportation. Georgia Department of Transportation Historic Bridge Management Plan, Bridge # Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta, Georgia, Georgia Department of Transportation.

Memorandum of Agreement among the Federal Highway Administration, Georgia Department of Transportation, and Georgia State Historic Preservation Officer for GDOT Project County Road 136/Old State Route 38/US 84 Over CSX Railroad, Number Project Identification Number Lowndes County, Georgia, Georgia State Historic Preservation Office, Atlanta, Georgia, Leonard, John William. Who s Who in Engineering, Vol. 1. New York: John W. Leonard Corporation, Lichtenstein and Associates, Inc., A.G. Georgia Historic Bridge Survey, Bridge Form, Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta, Georgia, Manufacturers Publicity Bureau. Bridge Building in Georgia: Curved Approach Necessary in Structure Over Flint River. Successful Methods: A Magazine of Construction Service, January Northen, William J., ed.

Men of Mark in Georgia. Vol. 6. Atlanta, Georgia: A. B. Caldwell, Office of the County Clerk, Lowndes County, Georgia. Lowndes County, Georgia, Deed Book 6J. Valdosta, Georgia, Sanborn Map Company. Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia. New York The Sanborn Map Company, Digital Library of Georgia, University of Georgia Libraries Map Collection. State Highway Department of Georgia. Plan and Profile of Proposed State Highway, Federal Aid Project Lowndes County, Valdosta to Quitman Road (State Route No. Atlanta, Georgia, GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 14 ) B. Secondary Sources Blackmon, Douglas A. Slavery by Another Name. New York, New York: Anchor-Doubleday, Buckley, Jean K. Eudora Plantation. Nomination Form. National Park Service, NPGallery, 446fa9570de3. Carter, Catherine McRee.

History of Kinderlou, Georgia. Unpublished typescript, Lowndes County Historical Society and Museum, Daughters of the American Revolution. History of Lowndes County, Georgia. Valdosta, Georgia: General James Jackson Chapter, DAR, Dittmer, John. Black Georgia in the Progressive Era, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, Find A Grave. George Randolph McRee. FindAGrave.com, Georgia Department of Transportation. Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey. Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta, Georgia, Georgia Department of Transportation. Georgia s Railroads, Historic Context and Statewide Survey: Appendix C, Atlantic Coast Line (ACL). Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta, Georgia, Huxford, Folks. The History of Brooks County, Georgia.

Homerville, Georgia: Daughters of the American Revolution, Kinderlou Custom Homes. About Kinderlou Forest. Kinderlou Custom Homes, Lichtenstein Consulting Engineers. Historic Bridge Inventory Update: Historic Contexts. Atlanta, Georgia: Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Environmental Location, Lockerman, Kristin L. Clarence N. Crocker and Georgia s Twentieth-Century Historic Bridges. University of Georgia, GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 15 ) Ray City Community Library. Grand Jurors of Lowndes County, GA. Blog. Ray City History Blog, June 7, Ray City Community Library. Lowndes Grand Jury of Blog. Ray City History Blog, June 9, Williams, Annie. Property Information Form: The Langdale Agricultural District, C.

Likely Sources Not Yet Investigated: The bridge plans included in this HAER were found on the online database of projects from the Georgia Department of Transportation, which is known as GeoPi. Though road and bridge plans were found, these were all part of a set of plans associated with Federal Aid Project 3 and are marked as revised. There may be other, earlier plans, dating to the period of construction, in the Georgia Department of Transportation s Bridge Office. Resources were also used from the archive at the Lowndes County Historical Society and Museum, but there was not an in-person visit to their archive due to COVID-19 restrictions. There may be more information regarding State Route 38, the CSX Railroad, and the village of Kinderlou in their collections. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO.

HAER No. GA-171 (Page 16) Part IV. Supplemental Material This material includes the location map and two color photos. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 17) Cook Lanier Lowndes Brooks Echols FLORIDA Bridge Bridge 0 ft 0 200 400 600 m Source: USGS Topo Basemap Figure 1. Location of Georgia DOT Bridge No. GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 18) Figure 2. View west from the eastern side of Georgia DOT Bridge No. Photograph taken by drone, Photographer: David Diener, GEORGIA DOT BRIDGE NO. HAER No. GA-171 (Page 19) Figure 3. View southwest from the northeastern approach to Georgia DOT Bridge No. Photograph taken by drone, Photographer: David Diener,