details

Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

Home

Meem's Bottom, Shenandoah 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: VA/46-82-01
County: Shenandoah County
Township:
Town/Village: Mount Jackson
Bridge Name: Meem's Bottom
Crosses: North Fork, Shenandoah River
Truss type: Burr
Spans: 1+
Length: 203.5'
Roadway Width: 16'
Built: 1894
Builder: Franklin Heiser Wissler
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N38 43.249
Longitude: W078 39.306
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 0.5 miles east of jct I-81 (Exit 269) on VA730, then 0.9 miles left on US11 and 0.4 miles left on VA720 (Wissler Rd.).

Meem's Bottom Bridge, Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County, VA Built 1892 (1978 Photo)
Virginia Department of Transportation Files

Meem's Bottom Bridge, Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County, VA Built 1892 (1980 Photo)
Virginia Department of Transportation Files

Meems Bottom Bridge, Mount Jackson, Virginia. Built 1892.
Steve Pierce Photo

Meem's Bottom Bridge, Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County, VA Built 1892
Bill Caswell Photo, June 3, 2011

Comments:
According to the National Register nomination form, the bridge was erected in 1893-1894. It replaced two earlier structures, the first was burned in 1862 by General Stonewall Jackson ahead of General Freemont before the battle of Harrisonburg. The second bridge succumbed to the high waters of a flood in 1870 that reportedly destroyed every bridge across the Shenandoah River. The bridge is supported by massive stone abutments whose limestone blocks were quarried locally. The bridge's timbers of rough, sawn pine were cut and fashioned on Strathmore, the farm of General G. S. Meems, who accompanied Stonewall Jackson in the West Virginia campaign of 1861-1862. The bridge was constructed under the supervision of Franklin Wissler. The 1894 date is inscribed on the stone facing of the east abutment. The bridge burned on September 29, 1976 and was restored in 1979. It was listed as 46-86-01 in earlier World Guides.

Sources:
National Society For the Preservation of Covered Bridges. Covered Bridge Topics, Volume XXXIX, No. 3, Summer 1981, page 14.
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 155

Compilation 2026 Covered Spans of Yesteryear

The images in this collection may be protected under copyright law and may only be used for educational, teaching, and research purposes.
If the intended use is beyond these purposes, it is the responsibility of the user to obtain the appropriate permissions from the owner stated in the image's credits.