ONEIDA | Several county officials gathered Friday at the historic O&W Bridge in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area to formally commemmorate the bridge’s new listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Scott County learned in December 2025 that the old railroad bridge, which spans the Big South Fork River between Pine Creek and North White Oak Creek, was the sixth structure in the county to be listed on the national register. Leading the effort to list the bridge was a committee chaired by 1st District Commissioner David Jeffers, who is also president of the Scott County Historic Society. Local history buff Jordan Hughett also played an instrumental role in the effort.
Attending Friday’s ceremony were Scott County Mayor Jerried Jeffers, 7th District County Commissioners Jared Burke and Tom Payne, David Jeffers, Jordan Hughett, and a representative of the National Park Service.
The O&W Bridge is one of the few remaining Whipple truss-style steel structures in the United States. It was originally built in the late 1800s, and was moved to the Big South Fork River and reassembled in 1914 and 1915, as the Oneida & Western Railroad was being built between Oneida and Jamestown.
Today, the O&W Bridge is one of the two oldest bridges still in use in Scott County, along with a wooden bridge over Pine Creek along O&W Road that was also built in 1914 and 1915.
Since O&W Road reopened following the replacement of a separate bridge over Pine Creek near the Toomey Road intersection in late spring, the Scott County Road Department has worked with Rogers Group to repurpose milled asphalt from U.S. Highway 27, significantly improving the condition of the road into the Big South Fork NRRA.
See Also: Scott County’s Historic Places
