Peg from Palmyra Covered Bridge

Peg from Palmyra Covered Bridge

bridges, roads, transportation

This white-oak peg was one of 3,000 used in the mortise and tenon construction of the Palmyra Covered Bridge over the Rivanna River, built in 1884 by W.R. and C.C. Cocke. They were used in place of typical nails or bolts because they could be reused.

Each peg was numbered so that when the bridge washed away (the entire bridge would be lifted off its pillars and would float downstream), it could then be toted back to Palmyra, and reconstructed.

This peg was saved by Wallace Wills before the covered bridge was burned ion 1931 by VA Highway Dept, and his daughter Cora Wills Hannah donated it to the Old Stone Jail Museum, where it sits today.

Fluvanna County Historical Society

Fluvanna County Historical Society Archives;
Fluvanna Bulletin #83 by Minnie Lee McGehee, “Fords, Ferries, Bridges and Signposts: Early Travel in Fluvanna”

Fluvanna County Historical Society

1884-1931

Fluvanna County Historical Society Archives;
Fluvanna Bulletin #83 by Minnie Lee McGehee, “Fords, Ferries, Bridges and Signposts: Early Travel in Fluvanna”

All rights reserved. Permission to reproduce any part of this item in any form or by any means must be obtained in writing from the Fluvanna County Historical Society.

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Museum artifact