Who steals a bridge?

I opened the January 7th 1950 edition of Washington Reporter to a startling headline that read "At Least 26 Dead in Mental Hospital Fire". As I scrolled through the article, something odd struck me from the bottom right corner of the page. An AP blurb out of Athens, Alabama reads "Somebody got away with the Piney Creek bridge, and folks are starting to get mad about it." Wait, what? Who steals a bridge?

Apparently, and by way of the January 28 edition of the Logansport-Pharos Tribune, Fred Vickers and Woodrow Moore of Limestone County, Alabama steal a bridge. As the story goes, Fred Vickers passes the bridge, most likely on an unpaved road that would later become present-day Huntsville Browns-Ferry in south Athens, and sees that the bolts can be taken out, so he calls his 350 pound friend Woodrow Moore to help him haul the 10 ton steel structure off. For their efforts dismantling the $28,000 bridge, they pocket a cool $149.

And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for a pesky local almost crashing into Piney Creek...then waiting two weeks...then remarking to the county commissioner that he sure hopes the new bridge comes in soon. After a series of confused exchanges, Sheriff John Sandlin jumped into action, stating "We just don't have any idea of what might have happened....we don't have any clues, and we're getting a pretty late start."

But serendipity blessed Sheriff Sandlin and the good people of south Athens, when deputies saw a fucking 10 ton bridge in a junk yard several miles outside of town. Deputies questioned Vickers who then turned over on his buddy Woodrow.

Best quote of the saga: "This time we're going to bolt the thing down good."


A Quick History of Stealing Bridges

The whole thing had me wondering, were there others like Fred and Woodrow? Was I naive to think that the stealing of a bridge would be such a tiresome and conspicuously grand caper that no one would try?

Yes; yes I was. A quick search reveals that in the last 200 years, there have been a whole bunch of stolen bridges.

Number of independent stories about someone stealing a bridge: >20

Oldest story of someone stealing a bridge: Actually, it was remnants of a bridge, but I'm still counting it. The April 18, 1832 edition of the UK's True Sun reports that James George was being held on charges related to his possession of steel and lead that had been stolen from the remains of the old London Bridge, which was a hodgepodge of structural duct-tapery that began around 1176. What can be gathered is that the old London Bridge was demolished in 1831 and somehow this guy came across some of the dismantled materials.

Best Payout to someone stealing a bridge: $5,200 to a couple of Pennsylvania brothers who made off with a bridge from North Beaver Township.

Most heartless instance of someone stealing a bridge: Someone stole a 10 foot bridge that was to be used on the grounds of a UK school for disabled children :,(

Moral (if there is one) to be learned about stealing a bridge: Never trust a scrap-metal buyer not to call the police on you, because they always do.

My personal favorite story of someone stealing a bridge: In 1931, Peter Orth of Wilmington, Delaware was looking for a way to feed his 12 (twelve) children. He landed on the rather reasonable plan of dismantling an abandoned rail bridge and using the planks for stove wood.  He later had a change of heart and decided to donate the wood to charity so that it might be distributed to the poor. Although he had already been caught, his donation was voluntary.

But What Happened to Fred and Woodrow?

They're fine. They're dead. Fred died in 1974 and Woodrow passed a few years later in 1980, both within just a few miles of the scene of the heist.  The theft has long been forgotten, and the bridge itself was most likely recycled after a 1956 repaving of County Road 24 that replaced all the bridges over Piney Creek.