Bollinger Mill/Burfordville Covered Bridge
(Front):
Bollinger Mill
Maj. George Frederick Bollinger built the first mill here in 1800, on a 640-acre grant from Louis Lorimier, Spanish Commandant of Cape Girardeau district of Upper Louisiana. A German Swiss from North Carolina, Bollinger visited this area 1796, and returned with 20 families. His mill became the largest and best in the district.
The mill, damaged in the Civil War, later rebuilt, operated until 1950, and is now owned by the Cape Girardeau County Historical Society. Bollinger, an outstanding pioneer, militia major in the War of 1812, was a noted legislator in the Territory, and later, State of Missouri.
(Back):
Burfordville Covered Bridge
Here, where scenic Whitewater river spills over Bollinger Mill dam, stands on of Missouri's few remaining covered bridges. The date, 1860, on east pier marks beginning of construction which, halted by the Civil War, was not completed until 1867. The early settlement here became, in 1870, Burfordville post office, probably named for its first postmaster.
A marvel of wood engineering, with its 140-foot self-supporting span, the bridge was built of yellow poplar by Cape Girardeau contractor Joseph Lansmon. In 1950 the Missouri State Highway Commission restored the bridge.
Marker is on County Road 360 0.1 miles east of State Highway OO, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
