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  • Bridging Deep South Rivers: The Life and Legend of Horace King
  • William D. Middleton (bio)
Bridging Deep South Rivers: The Life and Legend of Horace King. By John S. Lupold and Thomas L. French Jr. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2004. Pp. xvi+335. $29.95.

The title Bridging Deep South Rivers suggests a book about southern bridge construction. To some degree it is, but, much more, it is an extraordinary account of a black man's development of a successful business in the Deep South before and after the Civil War. Horace King was born in South [End Page 695] Carolina in 1807 as the property of Edward King, with Indian and European as well as African heritage. He was sold first to Jennings Dunlop around 1830, and shortly afterward to John Godwin, who helped train King as an expert bridge builder, freed him from slavery, and eventually worked with him as a partner in the bridge-building business. King expressed his regard for Godwin by erecting a monument in honor of his former master and friend after his death. The second major influence on King's remarkable development in bridge building was entrepreneur Robert Jemison Jr., who helped Godwin get King's manumission, worked with him on various projects, and became a close friend.

King's projects were carried out along the Chattahoochee Valley on the Georgia-Alabama boundary, and involved the most common type of bridge, the distinctive latticework truss developed by Ithiel Town, a Connecticut architect who had patented the design in 1820. Town's wooden trusses were made up of crossed braces or diagonals sandwiched between horizontal stringers or chords. Long wooden treenails were used to make the connections at every junction. Individual spans of more than 180 feet were used for major structures, which were usually enclosed in a wooden cover to protect them. Building a Town truss required careful cutting and fitting to bring the trusses together. A bridge builder also had to plan carefully in order to maintain the required camber. The evidence suggests that King was a master at this.

In addition to the larger spans for which he was well-known, King built more than a hundred smaller bridges. He also designed warehouses, factories, and public buildings, including the Alabama state capitol in 1851 and the Lee County (Alabama) courthouse in 1867–68. King was joined in his bridge-building work by his sons, who worked well into the twentieth century. Horace King served two terms in Alabama's Reconstruction legislature, and died in 1885 at the age of seventy-seven, having achieved an enduring reputation for his accomplishments. His obituaries evidence a level of respect seldom shown to African Americans in the nineteenth century. Although his own wooden bridges are now gone, other bridges named in his honor perpetuate his memory.

William D. Middleton

William D. Middleton, a civil engineer, has written extensively on rail transportation and engineering history. His recent books include The Bridge at Québec (2001).

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