From Cobb DOT’s website: After a four-month rehabilitation project, the historic Concord Road covered bridge near Smyrna will reopen to traffic Friday, Dec. 15, at 12:30 p.m. In August the Cobb County Department of Transportation (CCDOT) closed the one-lane bridge, which…
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The Covered Bridge Exposed, by Jeffrey Zygmont In wintertime one hundred years ago New Hampshire country people couldn’t go across a covered bridge upon a sleigh because the cover kept the snow away, and runners under sleighs won’t glide on…
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We need your help over the next few days. On Monday, December 11th, at 6:00 PM, the Historic Preservation Commission will be meeting to discuss an application to build a modern house in the heart of our Historic District. This…
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I recently talked with the site supervisor to get an update on the Concord Covered Bridge project. He reports that work is progressing well with no major problems and that they are on schedule. To start the project, two very…
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Many residents of Cobb County know about the Battle of Ruff’s Mill, fought in and around the mid-1800s milling community just outside present-day Smyrna. What many do not know is that Sherman’s army returned to Ruff’s Mill in October, 1864,…
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This is a quick reminder that the Friends of the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District will be meeting tomorrow morning, October 14th, 8:30 AM to clean up around the Historic District to keep our park beautiful. The weather forecast looks…
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CALLING ALL NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS TO “ADOPT-A- MILE” Saturday, October 14th, 8:30 AM until 11:00 AM, in the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District. Step Up to Clean Up. Come by the Silver Comet trail head on Concord Road Saturday morning…
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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 1800s, 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 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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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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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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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 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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