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Red Oak Creek or Imlac, Meriwether County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: GA/10-99-02
County: Meriwether County
Township:
Town/Village: Gay
Bridge Name: Red Oak Creek or Imlac
Crosses: Red Oak Creek
Truss type: Town
Spans: 1
Length: 127'
Roadway Width:
Built: c1840
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N33 02.311
Longitude: W084 33.135
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 2.1 miles north of jct Alternate GA85 on GA74/85, then 1.2 miles right on Covered Bridge Rd. (CR281).

Red Oak Creek or Imlac Bridge, Gay, Meriwether County, GA. Built c1840
Elna Johnson Collection

Red Oak Creek or Imlac Bridge, Gay, Meriwether County, GA. Built c1840
Bill Caswell Photo, July 16, 2009

Comments:
Red Oak Creek or Imlac Bridge over Red Oak Creek was built around 1840 and is the oldest covered bridge standing in Georgia. It is reported to have been built by Horace King, but documentation of that is lacking. It was the first covered bridge in Georgia to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 7, 1973. The bridge is still open to motor traffic. During the flood of July 7, 1994, the water rose several feet inside the structure, as indicated by the high-water mark metal sign, nailed to a truss member inside the downstream side. Extensive repair work was completed on the bridge in March 1999 at a cost of $176,253.00. The east approach ramp is 252' 7" long, and the west approach ramp is only 11' 5" long. Counting the covered bridge length, and both approach ramps, the bridge has a total length of 391' 7". Its tin roof was replaced with wood shingles during the 1999 repairs as well as most of the natural vertical boarding on the side and portals.

Sources:
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXXVI, No. 3, Summer 1978, page 4
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 9

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

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