Historical Marker

Camp Nelson Covered Bridge


Site of first bridge across the Kentucky River. Designed in 1838 by famous bridge builder, Lewis V. Wernwag. With two lanes, each 12 feet wide, it was a single span structure; 240 feet between the abutments which still stand. A main artery between the North and South during Civil War. Condemned, 1926. Longest wooden cantilever bridge in America when razed, 1933.

Erected in 1975.

The largest non-nuclear explosion in US history occurred in 1958 in Fleming County, Kentucky, when a natural gas storage cavern exploded, killing several people and destroying nearby homes.