Nichols Covered Bridge

Last updated

Donald F. Nichols Covered Bridge
Coordinates 42°25′04″N86°15′01″W / 42.41778°N 86.25028°W / 42.41778; -86.25028
CarriesCovered Bridge Road
Crosses Black River
Locale South Haven, Michigan
Official nameDonald F. Nichols Covered Bridge
Maintained byVan Buren Parks Department
Characteristics
Total length180 ft (55 m)
Statistics
Daily traffic Foot and bike
Location
Nichols Covered Bridge

Donald F. Nichols Covered Bridge was a Covered Bridge on the Kal-Haven Trail. The bridge was a 108-foot long covered footbridge and was demolition in July 2023. The bridge was located near the South Haven (West) trail-head. [1] The Kal-Haven Trail has seven bridges along the trail that were historic railroad bridge. These bridge were built when the original railroad was built in 1870. [2] The trestle railroad bridge was turned into a covered bridge as part of the conversion of old railroad bed to public trail. [3]

Contents

Original bridge

The original bridge was built by the Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad. lack of money caused the railroads future to be placed in the possibility of the new company folding and not completing the rail line. [4] Michigan Central Railroad leased the route and bought bonds in the Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad savings the line. [4]

Community leaders wanted the railroad to come to their communities because they can provide access to South Haven's harbor which could give them access to the great lakes. [4]

Liberty Hyde Bailey Jr. skipped school to see the new Kalamazoo & South Haven Railroad's new bridge over the Black River. "the most wonderful engineering feat in all the world." [5]

Conversion

The bridge was built in its current form by the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps over the Black River. [6] [7] [8] The Michigan Civilian Conservation Corp that performed the work was a nine-member group that had covered the former railroad trestles for use for bicycles. [9] The Michigan Civilian Conservation Corp of 1988 was made up of 500 previously unemployed people from 18 to 25 who worked for one year earning minimum wage instead of getting welfare. [10]

The bridge is named after a local resident, his family (Robert Nichols) donated the material to convert the bridge from a trestle railroad bridge to a covered bridge after his death. [7]

Donald F. Nichols

Donald and his wife were the owners of the Nichols Hotel in South Haven, Michigan. [11] Donald died at the age of 72 in 1981, his wife Elizabeth in 2001. The hotel, established in 1926 by Ward Webster, was an amalgamation of three buildings built in the 1880s. The Webster Hotel was sold to Don Nichols in 1944 and renamed the Hotel Nichols. It was kept in the Nichols family until sold in 2002.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalamazoo, Michigan</span> City in Michigan, United States

Kalamazoo is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 261,670 in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Buren County, Michigan</span> County in Michigan, United States

Van Buren County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 75,587. The county seat is Paw Paw. The county was founded in 1829 and organized in 1837.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kal-Haven Trail</span> 33.5 mile park trail between Kalamazoo, Michigan to South Haven, Michigan

The Kal-Haven Trail, formally known as the Kal-Haven Trail Sesquicentennial State Park, is a rail trail in the US that originally ran 33.5 miles (53.9 km) between South Haven, Michigan, to a point just west of the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, where there is a trailhead. In 2008, the trail was extended east from the trailhead to downtown Kalamazoo as part of the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail.

Van Buren Trail State Park, also known as Trail State Park, is an unimproved rail trail running along a former railroad right-of-way between Hartford, Michigan to South Haven, Michigan in Van Buren County. It is 14 miles (23 km) long and is used by hikers, mountain bikers and horse trail riders in the summer and snowmobilers in the winter. Terrain is flat with farmland and trees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M-40 (Michigan highway)</span> State highway in Cass, Van Buren, and Allegan counties in Michigan, United States

M-40 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The highway runs from US Highway 12 (US 12) near the Indiana state line in Porter Township north through Paw Paw and Allegan to end in the outskirts of Holland. The current northern end is near Interstate 196 (I-196) at an intersection with US 31/Business Loop I-196 (BL 196). In between, M-40 runs through mixed agricultural and forest lands and along lakes and rivers through Southwest Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Allegheny Passage</span> Rail trail connecting Cumberland, Maryland, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is a 150-mile (240 km) rail trail between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cumberland, Maryland. Together with the C&O Canal towpath, the GAP is part of a 335 mi (539 km) route between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., that is popular with through hikers and cyclists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OC&E Woods Line State Trail</span>

The OC&E Woods Line State Trail is a rail trail in Klamath and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is Oregon's longest state park. The trail follows the old OC&E and Weyerhaeuser railroads from Klamath Falls to Thompson Reservoir. Along its 105-mile (169 km) length it passes through the communities of Olene, Sprague River, Dairy, Beatty, and Bly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porter Hollow Embankment and Culvert</span> United States historic place

The Porter Hollow Embankment and Culvert, also known as the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Culvert, is a stone bridge and trestle over the Stegman Creek along the White Pine Trail in Algoma Township, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital Crescent Trail</span> Rail trail in greater Washington, D.C.

The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is a 7.04-mile (11.33 km), shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, Maryland. An extension of the trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring along a route formerly known as the Georgetown Branch Trail is being built as part of the Purple Line light rail project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banks–Vernonia State Trail</span>

The Banks–Vernonia State Trail is a paved rail trail and state park in northwest Oregon in the United States. It runs for 21 miles (34 km), primarily north–south, between the towns of Vernonia in Columbia County and Banks in Washington County on an abandoned railroad bed. Banks is about 25 miles (40 km) west of Portland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad</span>

The Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in southern Michigan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Custer Recreation Area</span>

Fort Custer State Recreation Area is a 3,033-acre (12 km2) State Recreation Area located between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, Michigan. The area features lakes, the Kalamazoo River, over 25 miles of multi-use trails, second growth oak barrens and dry-mesic southern (oak-hickory) forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallkill Valley Rail Trail</span> Rail Trail in the Wallkill Valley

The Wallkill Valley Rail Trail is a 23.7-mile (38.1 km) rail trail and linear park that runs along the former Wallkill Valley Railroad rail corridor in Ulster County, New York, United States. It stretches from Gardiner through New Paltz, Rosendale and Ulster to the Kingston city line, just south of a demolished, concrete Conrail railroad bridge that was located on a team-track siding several blocks south of the also-demolished Kingston New York Central Railroad passenger station. The trail is separated from the Walden–Wallkill Rail Trail by two state prisons in Shawangunk, though there have been plans to bypass these facilities and to connect the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail with other regional rail-trails. The northern section of the trail forms part of the Empire State Trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalamazoo River Valley Trail</span>

The Kalamazoo River Valley Trail is a planned-to-be 35-mile non-motorized trail in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. It currently sits at 22 miles. A master plan for the Trail was completed and portions of the trail are finished and open to the public. A community campaign to raise $5.9 million, to be combined with committed government funds, is underway to secure the remaining dollars needed to finish the trail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympic Discovery Trail</span>

The Olympic Discovery Trail is a rail trail spanning the north end of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The route is designated as a multi-use trail and spans 135 miles (217 km) between Port Townsend and La Push on the Pacific Coast. As of 2021, 90 miles (140 km) of the trail have been developed into a complete path. The remainder of the route can be ridden using a combination of public roads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitehorse Trail</span> Rail trail in Snohomish County, Washington

The Whitehorse Trail is a rail trail in northern Snohomish County, Washington, connecting the cities of Arlington and Darrington. The 27-mile-long (43 km) trail uses a former Northern Pacific Railway spur built in 1901 and abandoned in 1990. The trail has been in development since the county government purchased it in 1993, with some sections open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotel Nichols</span> Hotel in South Haven, Michigan, US

The Hotel Nichols is a brick hotel in South Haven, Michigan, with two stories comprising 17 rooms and 2 suites. The hotel is family-owned and operated on the corner of Center and Williams streets downtown. The hotel first opened for business in 1884.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Street Railroad Trestle</span> Historic railroad bridge in downtown Austin, Texas

The Third Street Railroad Trestle is a historic wooden railroad trestle bridge crossing Shoal Creek in downtown Austin, Texas. Built around 1922 by the International–Great Northern Railroad, it replaced an earlier bridge in the same place. The bridge was used by the I–GN Railroad, the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad until 1964, when commercial rail traffic stopped; after 1991 the bridge was abandoned. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willapa Hills Trail</span>

The Willapa Hills Trail is a 56.0-mile (90.1 km) intercounty rail trail in the U.S. state of Washington that is part of the Willapa Hills State Park. Following an east–west route alongside State Route 6, the tract links Chehalis and South Bend, traveling through or near several small towns and parks along the way. Overseen by the Washington State Park System, local cities and towns often maintain areas of the trail within their jurisdictions. The trail is built upon a decommissioned railroad track.

References

  1. Pollack, Susan (September 30, 2000). "Nature's Road Show". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  2. "West Michigan Home to 'super-scenic' bike trials". The Herald-Palladium. September 26, 2003. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  3. Aiken, Scott (September 30, 1990). "Rails to trails Bikers, hikers follow path railroad once occupied". The Herald-Palladium. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Building the Railroad". Kal-Haven Heritage Trail Website. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  5. "Bridges". Kal-Haven Heritage Trail Website. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  6. "Bridge Beauty, Hiker's Heavan". The Herald-Palladium. February 8, 1990. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Kal-Haven Trail Sesquicentennial State Park". Detroit Free Press. July 24, 1994. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  8. "Bridge Beauty: Hiker's Heaven". The Herald-Palladium. February 8, 1990. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  9. "Kal-Haven Trail gets $100,000 grant". The Herald-Palladium. May 31, 1988. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  10. "Kal-Haven Trail on State CCC's list". The Herald-Palladium. October 12, 1988. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  11. "Donald Nichols Obituary". The Herald-Palladium. November 28, 1981. Retrieved July 6, 2020.