My family and I recently visited this historical landmark hidden in a very rural part of SC. A very rural part of SC in which I could easily live I might add – man, this place was awesome! I had heard of the place before and when my wife discovered it the need to visit was rekindled. We had a free Saturday so, we packed up the jeep with the family and the Rottweiler and went for a ride. A ride that turned out to be very worth it.
There’s not a lot to do at this location so, don’t expect an all-day stay. There is a parking lot, the bridge, the creek, and a few hiking trails which I found no info on. Unfortunately, this attraction does bring in some people. There were maybe 10 people there throughout the duration of our one-hour stay. When I go somewhere like this, that’s 10 too many people for me personally. It’s certainly not Disney World though. This made taking good photos challenging. You had to say to yourself “Do I wait or is this something I can easily Photoshop out?” The bridge is stone, crosses the creek below it, and connects two hills. There are paths on all sides of the bridge for you to access the water. The water is slow-moving and there are small pools for you, or in our case, our Rottweiler, to wade around in. The coolest part is walking through the archway over the water which flows through it. This is a gothic arch that is 15 feet high and built for both strength and aesthetics (Putnam, 2016). I felt like I was in medieval England at this bridge – the stone, the arch, the trees, the dirt path.
The bridge has an interesting history. It is the oldest bridge in the state of SC and among the oldest bridges in the country. It was added to the historical registry in 1970. It was originally part of a toll road that was designed between 1817 and 1819 by a man named Joel R. Poinsett. The bridge was completed in 1920 and was part of a toll road. The toll road connected Charleston, Columbia, and Asheville. The bridge was built from wedge-shaped stones and no concrete was used in its construction (Putnam, 2016). If you examine the area, you can see that the stones were cut from the rock near the bridge. Some more interesting information about this bridge, and the reason I had originally heard of it, is that it is haunted according to locals. Some of the same stories that are told about any “crybaby bridge” in the state of your choice are told about this bridge too (Hawkins, 2022).
With all this being said, I will be returning to this bridge. I want to talk my wife into going in the fall for pictures and my brother to go with me at night to see if we can see some ghosts. Regardless of the folklore and/or history, this is a good little family trip for anyone. I wonder what conversations have been had here. How cool would it have been to see a horse-drawn buggy coming through the thickly wooded mountainside with lanterns for light? I’m in a Hammer film now for sure.
Putnam, J. (2020, June 2016). Poinsett bridge part of road winding through history. Greenville Journal. https://greenvillejournal.com/homes/poinsett-bridge-south-carolina-part-of-road-winding-through-history/
Hawkins, C. (2022). The unexplainable happenings of Poinsett bridge at night. Travelers Rest Here. https://travelersresthere.com/2015/10/26/the-unexplainable-happenings-of-poinsett-bridge-at-night/