Startling Louisiana Fact: You Can Own a Bridge from Our State

There is a little-known program in Louisiana that is gaining attention as four bridges that were once used for transportation in our state are being sold, and you can own one of them according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

Nope, we are not making this up. The state of Louisiana has plans to sell four bridges that someone can purchase and move to another location. These bridges qualify for this program through the National Register of Historic Places.

Have they never heard of this program? Deidre Druilhet with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says that many people have not heard of it, but a bridge in St. Mary Parish was purchased. The Bayou Teche Bridge at Oaklawn was previously located on Louisiana Highway 323 between Louisiana Highway 87 and Parish Road 28 which is Irish Bend Road.

Construction on the bridge began in 1941 after a partnership to split the cost 3 ways between the Louisiana Department of Highways, the St. Mary Parish Police Jury, and Oaklawn and Stirling Plantation (both in St. Mary Parish) owners back in '42. This was a rare occurrence, and it remains a rare occurrence today.

You can click here to read more about the unique nature of this one-lane bridge. The owners bought it for private property, but it will be open to the public. You can see when the relocation of the bridge happened:

If you have a really huge amount of space then one of the four US 90 Pearl River bridges in St. Tammany Parish could be yours!

Can you imagine how impressive your property would be with a bridge located on it? Once you jump through some hoops, you can have the bridge, but it must remain open to the public. You can click here to find out what is available and other program information.

This is what one of the bridges looks like. You could have the Middle Pearl River Bridge on your property: