“A Greenville County landmark….”
City Directories and History: Constructed in 1820, the Poinsett Bridge is one of the oldest spans extant in South Carolina. Its impressive construction of wedge shaped rocks, erected without concrete, has pointed Gothic arches that are rare in the state today. The bridge was part of the State Road from Charleston through Columbia to North Carolina that was designed in 1817-1819 by Joel Poinsett, director of the South Carolina Board of Public Works. The bridge was named in his honor. Poinsett also served as Secretary of War, Minister to Mexico, and first president of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, forerunner of the Smithsonian. It is believed that Robert Mills designed the bridge. Mills became State Architect and Engineer for the South Carolina Board of Public Works in 1820. A brush drawing by Mills of a bridge with Gothic arches and keystone identical to those of Poinsett Bridge lends credence to the belief that Mills designed the bridge. Listed in the National Register October 22, 1970.
View the complete text of the nomination form for this National Register property.
“Poinsett Bridge, Gothic-arched stone span across Gap Creek, is a well-known historic spot in Upper Greenville County. It is also one of the state’s oldest bridges, dating from 1820, when Joel Poinsett was director of South Carolina’s Board of Public Works and designed the bridge as part of the old State Road from Charleston to the North Carolina mountains.”
Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC
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