BURFORDVILLE/BOLLINGER MILL COVERED BRIDGE - BURFORDVILLE, MISSOURI

 UPPER WHITEWATER CREEK

CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY

BUILT - 1858-1867

Length - 140' ... In Burfordville. At the E. end of town in a park. Built by Joseph Lansmon. Construction began on the bridge in 1858, but was delayed several years by the Civil War. Bridge was built to be part of the Macadamized Road Company and used as a toll bridge. This road and bridge became a vital link, especially to farmers driving wagonloads of grain destined for the mill. The toll-road system between Burfordville, Jackson, and Cape Girardeau continued to operate as a private business with a toll booth at the end of the bridge until 1906. Bridge became obsolete by new bridges on Missouri State Route 34. Bridge rehabilitated in 1908, 1950, 1998. Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on May 19, 1970. Closed to motor traffic. Truss Type - Covered Howe Through Truss.

World Guide to Covered Bridge Number - 25-16-01

GPS +37,36835, -89.80245

BOLLINGER MILL

BUILT - 1867

After the Civil War, the George Bollinger family, (owners of the former mill that was burned down by the Union Army in order to prevent the supply of flour and meal to the Confederate Army) sold the mill ruins and 640 acres to Solomon R. Burford in 1866. Burford  built a new mill on the site of the existing 1825 foundation. This four-story, stone and brick structure is the mill that continues to stand today. Solomon Burford continued to own the mill until 1897, then he sold it to the Cape County Milling Company, which operated the mill until 1953 when it was sold to the Vandivort family, relatives of George Bollinger, the man who built the original mill on the premises. The mill operated until 1942 and was dismantled in 1953. The mill was donated to the Cape Girardeau County Historical Society in 1961 and to the State of  Missouri in 1967.   Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on May 27, 1971.