Elizabethton Covered Bridge - June Covered Bridge Festival, Parades

June Covered Bridge Festival, Parades

Originating on the side of Roan Mountain, the Doe River eventually flows by the East Side neighborhood in Elizabethton and parallel with Tennessee State Route 67 before passing underneath the historic covered bridge. Connecting 3rd Street to Hattie Avenue, the Elizabethton Covered Bridge, although now closed to motorvehicle traffic, is still open to both bicycles and pedestrians throughout the year.

Elizabethton Covered Bridge is adjacent to a large city park area with walking trails, baseball diamonds, and picinic areas and the cobered bridge spans the Doe River connecting this city park area with the Elizabethton downtown business district.

Most of Elizabethton's downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its historical and architectural merits. The Elizabethton Historic District contains a variety of properties ranging in age from the late 18th century through the 1930s. However, the Elizabethton Covered Bridge is an important focal point and a well-known landmark in the state that pre-dates much of the downtown construction fueled by the rayon boom of the mid-to-late 1920s. In addition to the Covered Bridge, the downtown historical district also contains the 1928 Elk Avenue concrete arch bridge, and just a little further downstream on the Doe River, Tennessee State Route 67 passes another similar concrete arch bridge locally known as the Broad Street Bridge.

Elizabethton celebrates in the downtown business area for one week each June with the Elizabethton Covered Bridge Days featuring country and gospel music performances, activities for children, Elk Avenue car club show, and many food and crafts vendors. The Elizabethton Covered Bridge is also along the Elk Avenue route for the annual July 4 and Christmas parades.