Concord Covered Bridge Historic District

The Concord Covered Bridge Historic District was created by Cobb County in 1986, the county’s first historic district. The focal point of the district is the Concord Covered Bridge. There are many additional historic structures dating back to the mid-1800s when milling communities developed along the Nickajack Creek.

For more information on the various structures and features of the district, see the list by clicking here.


The Historic District Map

The Historic District Map

The Concord Covered Bridge Historic District was created by Cobb County in 1986, the county's first historic district. The focal point of the district is the Concord Covered Bridge. There are many additional historic structures dating back to the mid-1800s...
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The Covered Bridge

The Covered Bridge

The Concord Covered Bridge is the focal point of the surrounding Historic District.It is famous as the only covered bridge remaining in Cobb County, still open to automobile traffic, and traffic counts show it as the busiest covered bridge in...
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Concord Woolen Mills

Concord Woolen Mills

Since the early 1800s, people have used the enormous water power of the Nickajack creek to power mills in the community. Grist mills, saw mills, cotton mills, woolen mills. In the area around the Covered Bridge Historic District, a mill-based...
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Ruff’s Grist Mill

Ruff’s Grist Mill

The grist mill in front of the miller's house dates to the 1850s. It had an overshot water wheel at its north side, fed by a mill race carrying water from the dam upstream from the covered bridge. Because of...
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John Gann House

John Gann House

Built in the 1840s by State Senator John Gann on land awarded in the Gold Land Lottery of 1832, this farm house survived the Battle of Ruff's Mill because a "Yankee General saw the Masonic flag flying from an upstairs...
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Henry Clay Ruff House

Henry Clay Ruff House

The house on the northeast side of the covered bridge is believed to date to the beginning of the grist mill. Earliest deed of record is May 17, 1856. As the residence of the first grist miller, Henry Ruff, the...
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John W. Rice House

John W. Rice House

Although a house may have sat on the northwest hill beside the covered bridge, the present house was built by John W. Rice in 1907. He purchased the mill interest from his father, Z. A. Rice. The Rice House is...
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Martin Luker Ruff House

Martin Luker Ruff House

Martin L Ruff, along with Robert Daniel, moved to this area in the 1840s to establish several mill works along Nickajack Creek. No photographs have been found of the original house, but it is believed to date from the 1850s....
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Latests Posts:


Silas Gibboney, Born on the Fourth of July

Today on the 4th of July we celebrate our nation’s independence from Britain. It is also the anniversary of the final assault of the Battle of Ruff’s Mill, fought along Concord Road in 1864, the culmination of several skirmishes over…
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Horace King – American Architect

In celebration of Black History Month February 2021, we wanted to highlight the life of Horace King, an American architect, engineer, and builder of covered bridges. In keeping with our purpose to educate and promote quality planning, preservation, and conservation…
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A Year In Review – 2020

While many of us may be glad to leave 2020 behind, I wanted to take a minute to celebrate some of our community’s accomplishments this past year. We got quite a number of our goals completed despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic. Here are a few of the highlights!

Historic Cemetery Preservation Workshop November 21st, 1PM

If you are interested in historic cemeteries, preservation, local history, or just being outdoors, consider participating in the upcoming Cemetery Preservation Workshop at the historic Ruff Family Cemetery. As you may remember, our Friends of the Concord Covered Bridge group…
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Ghost Stories!

It is Halloween Night in the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District, and what could be more appropriate tonight than a 100-year old ghost story set right here in the place that used to be known as “Concord”. This is a…
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3rd Annual Tree Planting at Silver Comet Trail – Saturday, October 17th at 9:00 AM

It’s October and time for planting October Glory Maple Trees at the Silver Comet Trailhead on Concord Road

The Friends of the Concord Covered Bridge invite you to join us to celebrate Fall and our wonderful Historic District by assisting with the planting of two more Maple Trees along the pathway leading down to the Silver Comet Trail from the Concord Road Parking Lot.  We will meet (properly masked) to plant these two additional trees on…
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Audio Tour App is LIVE…Download the Tour!

The Friends of the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District proudly announce the release of our Historic District Audio Tour App.

This Self-Guided Walking Audio Tour explores numerous historical sites and other prominent landmarks within and adjoining the Historic District.  The narration will enrich you about the people and their lives from the 19th century when these lands were first settled. The Audio Tour App is also filled with additional visual content.

You can take the Tour starting from three different locations around the Historic District and be guided Stop-by-Stop as…

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July 3rd, 1864: The 54th Ohio Regiment at Ruff’s Mill

156 years ago today, July 3rd, 1864, Sherman’s army fought through the woods in our area of Cobb County, intent on destroying Johnston’s army and capturing Atlanta, the manufacturing base of the Confederacy. Today’s newsletter contains Captain Edward B. Moore’s…
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Audio Tour App Under Development

Your Friends of the Concord Covered Bridge are busy developing a Smartphone App that will lead visitors along an exciting and educational Self-Guided Audio Walking Tour of the Historic District.  This unique App will take tour takers to and through fourteen different locations within and around the District; pointing out its landmarks, describing the rich history of the area, and providing supplemental photo and video content, right on your iPhone, iPad or Android device.

The App utilizes GPS Locations from your Smartphone to lead you from point-to-point…

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Announcing Historic District Tour of Homes

We are proud to announce that we will host a Tour of Homes this coming fall. This premier event will feature four unique houses on a two-hour guided tour including transportation to each of the venues. You won’t want to miss seeing the interiors of these renovated antebellum and one-of-a-kind houses which are located within the Historic District. Admission will be arranged so that there will be no more than twelve ticketed guests going through the homes at a time, allowing us to offer you a unique, in-depth, and memorable Tour. Read more

“Hold The Fort, I Am Coming”

Last year in October, I posted about Sherman’s return to Ruff’s Mill three months after the 1864 battle there. Confederate General Hood had crossed the Chattahoochee and was determined to attack Sherman from behind, disrupting his supplies and communications, jeopardizing…
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Unearthing Cobb County’s Historic Maps

I have always been fascinated with maps. Old maps; unfamiliar maps; maps that hold lost information; maps that show secret buried treasures; maps that walk you through dark unknown caves, etc…. The best birthday party I ever attended I was…
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Fake News! in 1870s Smyrna

We have all heard quite a bit about “Fake News” lately–probably much more than we really want to. But I think it will be interesting to look at a little incident from the 1870s that happened at the Concord Woolen…
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