The limestone abutments of the 1801 Old Town Bridge

The Old Town Bridge in Franklin, Tennessee, was a frame bridge built in 1801 by U.S. soldiers across Brown Creek near its junction with the Big Harpeth River. It carried the Harpeth River branch of the Natchez Trace. While the bridge was rebuilt several times, it was dismantled some time before 1988, leaving only the massive limestone abutments behind.

In frontier days, pole bridges were the most common type of bridge. These structures consisted of poles extending from one abutment to another with a deck of saplings or planks laid across them. The Old Town Bridge was one of the oldest remaining man-made bridges in Tennessee, and it remains the only site on the Natchez Trace in Williamson County that retains historic integrity.

The site is located about 300 yards from the NRHP-listed Thomas Brown House and near a plaque marking Old Town, an Indian village and mounds site.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons