July the 4th is a special day for our country, and also for the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District. This is when the Battle of Ruff’s Mill was fought along Concord Road during Johnston’s retreat towards Atlanta. After Sherman’s failed…
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Cobb County has approved $803,000 for needed repairs to the Historic Concord Covered Bridge. The work, being done by Suncoast Restoration and Waterproofing, will begin this summer and should be completed before the end of the year. The project involves…
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THE IRON NERVE OF A SOLDIER. By H. C. Evans, Company C, Twenty-seventh Ohio Veteran Volunteer, Infantry Regiment. In the charge at Ruff’s Mills, Georgia, in which the Twenty-seventh Ohio participated, I was wounded and while lying under a tent…
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The Cobb County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department is asking for feedback on how Cobb County citizens use the park facilities as they update the Master Plan. If you have a few minutes, please visit and fill out the…
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On July 4th, 1864, the Battle of Ruff’s Mill took place during Johnston’s retreat from Kennesaw Mountain. This little-known battle was brief, but intense, resulting in over 140 Union casualties and an unreported number of Confederates. 25 years later, some…
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This is a quick reminder that the bridge will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, April 13th, 10 AM to Noon. This closure is part of a pre-construction meeting in preparation for the upcoming summer closure, which will begin in a couple…
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Spring is officially here, and the weather couldn’t be better for plein air painting. The Concord Covered Bridge has been a beautiful landmark in Cobb County since the 1800’s, and has been painted by hundreds of artists over the years….
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The Concord Covered Bridge will be closed for a couple of months this summer for safety renovations. Metal support boxes will be constructed inside the landmark Concord Road covered bridge near Smyrna as part of a scheduled safety project that…
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If you are interested in local history, or are looking for something interesting to do outdoors this weekend, the River Line Historic Area will be hosting an open house between 11am and 3pm at Shoupade Park. From Roberta Cook, Executive…
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Drone videographer Dave Thompson recently shot some nice video of the Concord Covered Bridge with his drone. You can watch the video posted on YouTube below. These videos are © 2015 by David Thompson. Used with permission. This second video…
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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 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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Since the early 1800’s, 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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The grist mill in front of the miller’s house dates to the 1850’s. 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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Built int he 1840’s 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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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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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 L Ruff, along with Robert Daniel, moved to this area in the 1840’s 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 1850’s….
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