“The Bridge Builder King”
The Horace King Memorial Bridge is a tribute to one of the South’s most fascinating, talented and complex builders.
Just a quarter-mile down the Murphey Candler Trailhead lies a historical surprise: the Horace King Memorial Bridge. Born into enslavement on June 8, 1807, in what is now Chesterfield County, South Carolina, Horace King would go on to become one of the nation’s most respected bridge-builders, building hundreds across Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi before and after the Civil War. His remains are buried in La Grange, Georgia, where he planned several structures.
Although this bridge is not an original Horace King creation, it is inspired by his famous lattice design and a tribute to his innovations in the field. To learn more, read the Arabia Alliance’s interpretive sign (pictured here at its unveiling in 2024). It is easily accessible via the Arabia Mountain PATH from Murphey Candler Elementary off of Klondike Rd.
From bondage to the “Bridge Builder King,” Horace King’s life as a Black man in the Deep South defied all odds and became the stuff of legends. But he left behind a complicated legacy. After gaining his freedom, King was able to further elevate his place in society by owning land, stock, and a home for his wife and their five children, first in Alabama and then in Georgia. Like many Southern men of prominence, King also attempted to become an enslaver when he purchased a young boy named John Stella Martin, whom he later sold after attempting to punish the child. During the Civil War, the politics of being a Southern, free, wealthy, skilled, Black man would force his hand when the Confederacy conscripted him to build various defenses and ironclad ships to support the Confederacy’s war effort. Read our Field Note about King’s curious life to learn more.