What was once a heavily traveled passageway to the Southwest for Arkansas’ first European settlers is now a rusted iron structure with limited public access.
Built in 1891, the Old River Bridge to the southwest of Benton on Old Military Road was closed to vehicular traffic after a 1974 truck accident. It has been vandalized and forgotten over the years, and shows its age and wear and tear.
A group of Saline County residents have joined to reclaim the historic landmark, declaring to the community, “Save our bridge.”
“We want to preserve the history of Saline County, and we want to actually make the heritage available through education for our young people and develop this area of the Saline River for wholesome outdoor recreation for families,” former Benton MayorLynn Moore said.
Moore and others founded Saline Crossing Regional Park & Recreation Area Inc. a few years ago.
Now, with an adopted mission statement, a logo, a bank account, approved bylaws, 14 lifetime members and a nonprofit tax-exemption application filed, the group hopes to restore Arkansas’ second-oldest standing bridge, which sits at Saline Crossing.
“Today the iron bridge quietly stands ... inaccessible to the public, a lifeless skeleton having only faint memories of the service it has provided,” Moore said. “[It] is crying out to be saved - to refresh the wonderful memories and once again serve.”
The group wants to preserve the bridge, open it for pedestrian access and connect it to planned walkingtrails on both sides of the river. The long-range hope is to create a regional park and recreation area along the river at the bridge site.
The first step toward that goal was accomplished Tuesday, when local business owners Bill and Shannon White of White Furniture in Benton gave the group 5 acres connected to the bridge.
“It was farmland I bought about 15 years ago,” Bill White said. “It’s a real scenic area. Several movies have been filmed around it. Sling Blade was filmed there.
“We donated it so it can stay a historical landmark and it can be developed intoa park.”
The Saline County Quorum Court commissioned the construction of the bridge in 1889, and the county still owns it.
County Judge Lanny Fite is planning restoration of the bridge and development of the area in partnership with Saline Crossing Inc.
“We’d like to look at securing the [former] Rock Island railroad line from Benton to Haskell this year and then next year try to fund the clearing and surfacing of a walking trail,” Fite said.
“We do not have walking trails or bike trails or anything in Saline County, andI think that’s something the people in our community are wanting.”
Fite is prepared to apply for a state grant for funds to begin restoration. The grant amount could be about $16,000, he said.
Saline Crossing Inc. hopes to host a celebration at the bridge in May featuring 1800s re-enactors, possibly a living drama and other festivities.
The May event would be practice for a much larger event in 2015 marking the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first European settlers to the area in 1815.
“The first family settled there on the banks of the Saline River on what was then called the Southwest Trail,” Moore said. “It was a meandering [American Indian] path from the area of St. Louis down toward Texarkana.”
Former state Rep. Barbara Nix became the first lifetime member of Saline Crossing Inc. She remembers posing for pictures on the Old River Bridge in a style show when she was 17.
“I grew up in Benton and the bridge has been a big part of the history of Benton,” Nix, 63, said. “We just have fond memories. A lot of people who grew up here remember that bridge well.”
Records show the bridge was the site of Fourth of July celebrations attended by as many as 5,000 people through 1917.
Nix envisions a visitor center, museum, nature area and paddleboats in years to come.
“I was a teacher here for 38 years, and we’d love to have our students know that part of our history and maybe have field trips to there,” she said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 02/23/2013