Settles Bridge ruins in the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

Settles Bridge Unit Main Page

Many modern day roads along the Chattahoochee River are named after bridges, having received their names in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Rarely, if at all, are any of these original bridges still in use, as most have been replaced by modern bridges since the mid-1900s. However, in some cases the original bridge structure was left standing. The road surface was removed so nobody could cross, and any wood has long ago rotted away, but the metal structure remains. This is the case at Settles Bridge.

Unlike many of the historic ruins in Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, I could not find much information on the history of the original bridge. I did learn that it was built in 1896 and abandoned in the 1950s. Its construction is known as “pratt through truss,” though that means nothing to me. Folklore has it that a woman hung herself from the bridge after her husband was shot by a local sheriff and that now the bridge is haunted. This information came from a website called bridgehunter.com.