1998 City of Albany, "The Bridge Hall"

The Bridge Hall

The Classical-Italiante style Bridge House, built circa 1857, is significant as the only known extant bridge in Georgia. Once a center of Albany, economically and socially, with its theater-ballroom above the busy agricultural bridge traffic below, it now houses the Keenan Auto Parts Company.

Col. Nelson Tift constructed the Bridge House concurrently with the Old Broad Bridge, featuring a tunnel through its ground floor that served as a toll collection point for wagons and horses using the bridge.

The Bridge House played a significant role in the War Between the States, as its extensive cellars were converted into packing houses, and its backyard served as a slaughter pen. Here, thousands of cattle, hogs, and sheep were barreled in pickle for the use of the Confederate States Navy. Albany was the gateway for what was then known as the "Egypt of the Confederacy."