There was a time when very few bridges existed in our area and people relied on shallow creek crossings called fords and hand-operated ferry rafts or barges. Before the first bridge crossing Paint Creek at Greenfield there was a small ferry that would take people, animals, and wagons across the creek. In Fayette County there is a road named Flake’s Ford and I’m assuming it was a shallow section of Paint Creek where people could safely get to the other side.

In a recent article about tent camping I posted a photo of a low-water crossing just north of the small town of Rock Bridge in Fayette County. The photo shows the area as it exist today with a modern span connecting the two sides of Paint Creek. While digging through some older email I came across a photo sent me by Linda Limes Ellis of the Rock Bridge/Mill crossing taken sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s. The photo comes from a post card and inscribed as being Rock Mills Near Washington C.H., Ohio.

I’m a little confused about the photo and the inscription. The crossing looks a great deal like the one I remember being at Rock Bridge but the background and buildings resemble more the Rock Mills area. There is a bridge crossing Paint Creek at Rock Mills but I think the terrain is too steep to have permitted a ford or low-level crossing. In my memory the Rock Mills Bridge was either an old iron structure or the modern span that now crosses the creek.

Hopefully someone with a better knowledge of the area can shed some light on these things.

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