Unfortunately, not only history can be found amidst the aged timbers of Clarkson. Over the years, burrowing insects have eaten away at the wooden skeleton of the bridge, endangering the fragile infrastructure. Decades of vandalism have resulted in missing carriage bolts as well as damage to the planks that form the bridge itself. Weather, too, has had its way with the structure. Time has taken a heavy toll on Clarkson, and the treasured local landmark with the colorful past now faces a very bleak future indeed unless something can be done.
Efforts are underway to repair the bridge, however.
County officials and local and state historians are working together to fund a two-year restoration project that will preserve this valuable relic for future generations. To understand the drive behind this massive undertaking, one must only look at the history of the site and the bridge itself for inspiration. The history of the site began many years before the first plank was ever put into place. During the Civil War, Union Col. Abel Streight led a small band of men through Cullman County toward Rome, Georgia, in an ill-fated attempt to destroy the Western Atlantic Railroad that supplied Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg's army in middle Tennessee. Confederate Gen. Nathaniel B. Forrest , Streight engaged in a number of battles in Cullman County that culminated in the running skirmish now known as Streight's Raid .