The Norfolk Southern Six Mile Bridge No. 58 is named for its location approximately six miles downstream from the city of Lynchburg. This historic railroad bridge in the Mount Athos vicinity of Campbell and Amherst counties was initially completed in 1854 for the Southside Railroad, connecting Petersburg to Lynchburg. Listed by the railroad as the “First Crossing the James River,” the Six Mile Bridge originally consisted of five stone piers supporting a superstructure of six wooden trusses for a length of 670 feet. The bridge was burned by Confederates in 1865 to protect Lynchburg. It was soon rebuilt with similar trusses. It was rebuilt again in 1870 when the piers were increased in height to support a wrought-iron Fink truss superstructure. The bridge was strengthened in 1886, and again in 1899 and 1920, with riveted steel Pratt-type suspended trusses. Abandoned in 1972, then listed as Bridge No. 58, title was transferred in 1992 by the Norfolk Southern Corp. to the Mount Athos Regional Museum and Information Center.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia