Nichols Covered Bridge
Donald F. Nichols Covered Bridge was a Covered Bridge on the Kal-Haven Trail. The bridge was a 108-foot long covered footbridge and was demolished in July 2023. The bridge was located near the South Haven trail-head. The Kal-Haven Trail has seven bridges along the trail that were historic railroad bridges. These bridges were constructed when the original railroad was built in 1870. A trestle was turned into a covered bridge as part of the conversion of old railroad bed to public trail.
Original bridge
The original bridge was built by the South Haven Railroad. Lack of money caused the railroad’s future to be placed in the possibility of the new company folding and not completing the rail line. Michigan Central Railroad leased the route and bought bonds in the Kalamazoo and South Haven Railroad savings the line.Liberty Hyde Bailey Jr. once skipped school to see the bridge over the Black River. He dubbed it "the most wonderful engineering feat in all the world."
Conversion
The bridge was built in its current form by the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps over the Black River. The Michigan Civilian Conservation Corp that performed the work was a nine-member group that had covered the former railroad trestles for use for bicycles. The Michigan Civilian Conservation Corp of 1988 was made up of 500 previously unemployed people from 18 to 25 who worked for one year earning minimum wage instead of getting welfare.The bridge is named after a local resident, his family donated the material to convert the bridge from a trestle railroad bridge to a covered bridge after his death.