Upstream: Carbonton Dam

22-0 Plank Road Bridge (Gulf)

Downstream: Gulf Dam

According to Hadley (1993), in the late colonial period, Regulator Harmon Husband owned land on the north side of the river here and he and later owners apparently engaged in surface mining of coal. Hadley also reports that in 1768 there was discussion (at Chatham Co Ct?) of establishing a ferry across the river at Gulf to transport coal to an ironworks on the south side of the river, but Endor (mile 12-8) was not built until the Civil War, so presumably there was an earlier iron works in the vicinity. In 1779, the Chatham Co Ct Min mention (page 75) the ford at “Gulph” being flooded by the Rigdon mill dam. This location is shown as “Gulph” Ferry by Brazier (1833). The piles of stone just upstream of the current bridge may have been part of the pilings for the bridge shown by Ramsey (1870). The North Carolina State Archives has a receipt for the County's acceptance of this bridge, dated 1870. H A London (1876) mentioned that there was a bridge here in 1876, one of only three on the Deep in Chatham County at that time.

A marker on the current bridge indicates that it was built in 1959. The river access just below the bridge on the left is known as Mc Iver Landing, according to Ferguson.

Areas for Research

When was this first built?