Reviewed by: Pat Byington
This Alabama bridge has been added to the National Register of Historic Places
ByCaleb Turrentine
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Reading time: 3 minutes
Alabama’s latest addition to the National Register of Historic Places sits in north Alabama, just above the Tennessee River.
You may already recognize it as the Memphis & Charleston Railroad Bridge in Sheffield, better known as the Old Railroad Bridge. The National Park Service recently announced the bridge’s inclusion to the registry.
Keep reading to find out more about the bridge + why its historic significance helped it receive this designation.
History of the Old Railroad Bridge
The bridge dates back nearly two centuries and now stands as a walking trail above the Tennessee River, connecting the cities of Sheffield and Florence.
According to the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, the first mention of a bridge at the site was in 1840. The bridge worked as toll bridge before being destroyed by a tornado.
After the structure sat idle for years, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad bought the bridge route and created a structure resembling more closely what it is today. During the Civil War, the bridge was burned by a Confederate general to stop the U.S. Army from advancing across the river.
When the O’Neal Bridge opened in 1939, the Old Railroad Bridge was more scarcely used. When the TVA’s phosphate mining in Muscle Shoals ended in 1976, almost all freight traffic across the bridge ended.
In 1990, the Old Railroad Bridge Company was created to preserve, restore and develop the bridge as a historic landmark. In more recent years, efforts to make the bridge safer turned allowed it to become a pedestrian bridge and walking trail.
National Register of Historic Places in Alabama
According to the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, local historian Richard Sheridan first submitted a National Register documentation form in 2015. The Alabama Historical Commission helped revise that nomination draft and now nearly a decade later, it has officially been made the list.
This is the second site in the state to earn the designation this year. The Bank of Columbia in Houston County was also added back in April.
12 sites from Alabama were added in 2023. You can find every Alabama site on the National Register of Historic Places here.
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