Chickamauga National Military Park Tour Roads, Alexander's Bridge, At the confluence of West Chickamauga Creek and Gordon's Slough, Fort Oglethorpe, Catoosa County, GA

Significance: Alexander's Bridge, the Connecting Roadway (HAER No. GA-95-B), and Gordon's Slough Bridge (HAER No. GA-95-C) are contributing features to the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. The National Military Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a discontiguous historic district. Alexander's Bridge, the Connecting Roadway, and Slough Bridge are contributing features of the 1890-1942 Commemorative Period. There has been a bridge spanning West Chickamauga Creek in this location dating back to the Battle of Chickamauga. The wooden structure comprising Alexander's Bridge, which may have been present at the time of the battle, was badly deteriorated and replaced in 1897 with a new wooden bridge built on limestone abutments under the authority of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Commission. In 1907, this wooden bridge was replaced with the current steel pony truss structure using the stone abutments already in place, having been constructed in 1897 as part of the initial park development. Slough Bridge was built in 1907 with limestone used for the abutments. It is not known if a bridge existed at Gordon's Slough during the time of the 1863 Battle. Alexander's Bridge was also documented as part of HAER No. GA-95.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N1231
Survey number: HAER GA-95-A
Building/structure dates: ca. 1897 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1907 Subsequent Work
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000274