UPDATE MARCH 11, 2024
Pictured shoveling the first dirt at the groundbreaking were (left to right) Tom Farmer, Mayor of Benton; Brad Moore, former Benton City Council Member and son of Lynn Moore, former Mayor of Benton; Matt Brumley, Saline County Judge; Jeff Arey, former Saline County Judge; and Lori Tudor, Director of Arkansas Department of Transportation.
The “Old River Bridge” is returning. The Saline County Judge’s Office held a groundbreaking on March 11th, 2024 to marking the beginning of the installation of the restored bridge. Once the installation is complete, the bridge will be the oldest in Arkansas in its original location.
Photo by Shelli Poole, 2010.
This bridge is a big part of the history of Saline County. It supported traffic by horse and carriage, and more modern vehicles for nearly 80 years until an incident made it no longer possible. The Old River Bridge is also known for its appearance in the 1996 film “Sling Blade” starring Billy Bob Thornton.
Old River Bridge March 2018, photo by Shelli Poole
Constructed in 1891 for a price of $5,000.00 this bridge allowed the first settlers of Saline County a safe passage over the Saline River. In 1974, a truck carrying concrete blocks severely damaged the bridge to the point of local officials decommissioning it.
Old River Bridge from 1899. Photo provided by Saline County Judge’s Office.
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Around 2004, late former Benton Mayor, Lynn Moore expressed a vision to restore the bridge and incorporate it into a bike/pedestrian pathway. The citizens of Saline County came together to make Mayor Moore’s vision a reality. Many locals worked together to clean and improve an area on the Benton side of the bridge. It’s now called Saline Crossing Park, in tribute to its early days of use by settlers. The group formed a non-profit organization called Saline Crossing, to continue the improvement and maintenance of the park.
The following three pictures ?are the dismantling of the Old River Bridge, for the purpose of restoration. ?The images are from May 12, 2018, courtesy of Marsha Guffey.
Meanwhile, government agencies were working together to fix up the bridge itself. Using funding from TAP grants through the Arkansas Department of Transportation, the County was able to dismantle the structure.
Photo by Shelli Poole, Dec 2006.
In May 2018 it was taken to the Saline County Road Department. In 2021, the County sent it to Michigan for restoration. The iron was mostly refurbished, but it was also recast in areas. In 2022, it was shipped back to the Saline County Road Department. There, the contractors laid out the pieces of the bridge to prepare it for it’s final trip – back to the Saline River.
A marker from the Arkansas Department of Heritage stands on the site, reading: SALINE CROSSING – The William S. Lockhart family arrived from North Carolina and established Saline County’s first settlement here in 1815. By virtue of its location on the Saline River, Saline Crossing became an important landmark along one of Arkansas Territory’s most significant transportation routes, the Military Road (also known as the Southwest Trall). The road traversed sparsely-settled Arkansas and Saline County in a northeast-southwest direction. For decades, the trall carried thousands of pioneers. Texas revolutionaries, and Native Americans on the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory (Oklahoma), across Arkansas.
On Monday, March 11, 2024, the County held a groundbreaking ceremony for the bridge’s return. The goal is for it to be installed and ready for pedestrian traffic by Spring 2025. Speakers at the Groundbreaking Ceremony include Brad Moore, son of the late Lynn Moore; former County Judge Jeff Arey; and current County Judge Matt Brumley.
Old River Bridge from behind the swing rope tree. Photo by Shelli Poole, 2012.
The bridge will serve as a connector between the cities of Haskell and Benton in the Southwest Trail. The Southwest Trail is a 60-mile biking and walking trail that will eventually stretch from Hot Springs in Garland County, through Saline County, and on to Little Rock in Pulaski County.
Find more historical information on the bridge at https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/old-river-bridge-12175/
See the list of all the events in Saline County at www.mysaline.com/events.