FROM TWO CREEKS TO WISENER BRIDGE

Where the
Tallapoosa begins.

Photographs & field notes by Daniel Moss
November 1, 2026

Leaves gather along a small point of land. Two wooded channels meet beneath the branches. This is where the river gets its name.

At the meeting of the creeks

Daniel’s photograph of the Mud Creek–McClendon Creek confluence.

I followed the Tallapoosa by road and on foot, from its wooded beginning to crossings in Alabama. Along the way are old road remains, canoe landings and family memories.

Explore the river map Find the railroad take-out Start the photo story

FIND YOUR PLACE ON THE RIVER

Three landings, in pictures.

This map covers the canoe section from Poplar Springs to Broad Street. Choose a landing to see its photograph and arrival guide.

River line: Georgia River Network · North is up · A–C are photo keys, not official launch numbers.

Poplar Springs

The steps to the water, with the old truss nearby.

Read this part of the story Entrance & landing photos

These are the three source-listed public landings; current conditions still need checking. The confluence, private bridge, Liner railroad take-out and Wisener Bridge are outside this map. Open the full float planner or see the railroad take-out photographs.

Two creeks, one river

Mud Creek and McClendon Creek meet here. The USGS describes their confluence as the beginning of the Tallapoosa River.

The photographs show a modest beginning: wooded banks, fallen branches and leaves resting against the sand. From this meeting, the water carries the Tallapoosa name downstream.

A fallen log and fallen leaves beside the joining creek channels — **A closer look at the confluence**
The creek names are established; these photographs do not label which branch is on the left or right.

Learning the river by its crossings

Allgood Church, Goldin, Coppermine, Rockmart, Mountain View and Mount Zion East: the road names give these upper stretches a familiar rhythm. Between the crossings, trees press close to the banks. Reflective pools give way to exposed bars and rocky shallows.

At Rockmart Road, 1962 is stamped in the concrete railing. At US 27, a green river sign gives passing drivers a name for the water below.

A wooded stretch of the Tallapoosa photographed from Allgood Church Road — **Allgood Church Road**

The Tallapoosa beneath autumn trees at Goldin Road — **Goldin Road**

River water and exposed rock near the Coppermine Road crossing — **Coppermine Road**
The visible rock feature is left undesignated; the photograph alone does not establish its origin.

A tree-lined river view from the Rockmart Road bridge — **Rockmart Road**

Autumn woodland surrounding the Tallapoosa at Mountain View Road — **Mountain View Road**

A narrow wooded river view from Mount Zion East Road — **Mount Zion East Road**

US 27, Sanders Road and the Rockmart inscription

1962 stamped into the concrete bridge railing at Rockmart Road — **Rockmart’s 1962 inscription**
A photographed inscription, rather than a separately verified construction history.

Roadside Tallapoosa River sign at the US Highway 27 crossing — **The Tallapoosa sign at US 27**

The river and wooded banks seen near the US 27 crossing — **The river at US 27**

River and wooded banks photographed near the railroad trestle identified by Daniel as off Sanders Road — **At the Sanders Road trestle**
A separate railroad crossing from the Liner Road location later in this story.

The old bridge our family knows

The Bethlehem Church Road crossing brings the journey to the old steel bridge connected with our family’s river land. Its narrow trusses belong to a different kind of crossing from the highway bridges farther along.

Our old-road story brings together family recollections, maps and dated imagery. This bridge is on private property and is separate from the public canoe launches and the old truss at Poplar Springs.

Old steel truss bridge spanning the Tallapoosa amid woodland — **The family bridge near Bethlehem Church Road**
An old crossing with a continuing place in our family’s life on the river.

Monroe Mill Road: a place, and a person to remember

Substantial concrete remains stand downstream of the present Monroe Mill Road bridge. In one photograph, an old support stands close to the bank with the newer crossing beyond it.

Linda Spearman told me that her husband, Tommy, had said the old Monroe Mill Road ran there. That is Tommy’s recollection, passed along through Linda. The photographs preserve what remains, while its date and full history still need work.

When I was a child, we would float the river and my dad would pick us up at Tommy Spearman’s place. I remember Tommy as a very, very nice man. His kindness belongs in the story of this stretch of river, too.

Surviving concrete support beside the river with the present Monroe Mill Road bridge beyond it — **Old support, present crossing**
The relationship between the remains and today’s bridge is visible in this view.

A substantial weathered concrete support near Monroe Mill Road — **The concrete that remains**
The former-road identification is oral history relayed by Linda from Tommy Spearman.

The present Monroe Mill Road crossing

Road approach to the present Monroe Mill Road bridge — **Monroe Mill Road today**

Poplar Springs: the old span and the way to the water

Old steel truss bridge reflected in the Tallapoosa at Poplar Springs — **The old truss at Poplar Springs**
A different bridge from the family crossing near Bethlehem Church Road.

The truss and its reflection make you stop and look. Close views also show the missing deck. The old structure can be appreciated without treating it as a way across the river.

Nearby, the canoe access has a more practical sequence: roadside entrance, unpaved approach, clearing, information board and concrete steps to the water. Those photographs now join Highway 100 and Broad Street in our arrival guide.

See the Poplar Springs arrival photos

Side view of the old Poplar Springs steel truss bridge — **The span from beside the river**

Exposed structural beams where the old Poplar Springs bridge deck is absent — **A closer view of the old deck**
Missing decking is visible. This is not presented as a pedestrian crossing.

Jacksonville Road, Highway 100 and Steadman

At Jacksonville Road, shallow water curves around exposed bars. The bridge railing carries a 1970 inscription. Highway 100 brings another landing into view, with the water-treatment structure upstream of it.

That direction matters for a float: the photographed structure belongs upstream of the Highway 100 landing. The access guide shows the public approach outside the plant enclosure and keeps the posted obstruction information in context.

Farther along, Steadman Road adds a 1976 inscription and another wooded reach of the same river.

Exposed bars dividing the river near Jacksonville Road — **Jacksonville Road**

Sloping concrete landing beside the Highway 100 bridge — **Highway 100 landing**

Rock structure across part of the river channel near Highway 100 — **Upstream of the Highway 100 landing**
Daniel identifies this man-made feature as associated with the water-treatment plant, upstream of the access.

Autumn woodland and the Tallapoosa at Steadman Road — **Steadman Road**

The approaches and bridge inscriptions

1970 inscription in the Jacksonville Road bridge railing — **Jacksonville Road: 1970**

The roadway crossing the Tallapoosa at Highway 100 — **Highway 100 approach**

Road and concrete bridge rails at the Steadman Road crossing — **Steadman Road approach**

1976 inscription on the Steadman Road bridge — **Steadman Road: 1976**

Broad Street: seeing the whole carry

One view brings the roadside area, path and concrete steps together. It shows the relationship between the road and the river in a way a close photograph of the landing cannot.

The railing carries a 1969 inscription. Below, quiet water gives way to a rocky shoal. The Broad Street arrival guide includes the earlier close views of the signs and steps.

Broad Street access clearing and path connecting to concrete steps beside the bridge — **From the roadside to the water**
The whole carry, as it appeared during the photo visit.

Shallow flowing water over exposed rocks below autumn trees at Broad Street — **The shoal beside Broad Street**

The Broad Street bridge and inscription

Two-lane road approaching the Broad Street bridge — **Broad Street approach**

1969 stamped into the Broad Street bridge railing — **Broad Street: 1969**

US 78, Liner Road and the railroad take-out

US 78 and the Liner Road road bridge are two more crossings along the journey. Just down the road from Liner, I also wanted to show the get-out place I know beside the railroad crossing.

The photographs connect three parts of that place: the roadside setting, a leaf-covered path and the rocky river edge beneath the railroad bridge.

Tallapoosa River and wooded banks seen from the US 78 crossing — **The river at US 78**

Unmarked road approaching a low concrete-railed bridge at Liner Road — **Liner Road’s road bridge**
This road bridge is separate from the nearby railroad bridge.

Railroad crossing signals ahead on the road and a wooded descending path on the right — **The crossing and path from the road**
The path is visible on the right. The photograph does not establish designated parking.

Uneven leaf-covered path descending through trees toward the river — **The wooded path**
Exposed rock, gravel and leaves cover the descent.

Steel railroad bridge on concrete piers above rocky Tallapoosa River shallows — **At the railroad bridge**
The river edge at the get-out place Daniel identifies near Liner Road.

Wooded bend and exposed riverbank viewed from the Liner Road road bridge — **The river at Liner Road**

The US 78 approach and inscription

US Highway 78 bridge approach with a Tallapoosa River sign — **US 78 at the Tallapoosa**

1969 inscription in the US Highway 78 bridge railing — **US 78: 1969**

Wisener Bridge: where this journey pauses

The sign names the last crossing Wisener Bridge. A 1995 inscription appears in the concrete railing. Beyond it, the Tallapoosa continues between wooded banks.

This is where my photo journey into Alabama pauses. There is more river ahead—and a mill I still hope to return and photograph.

Road approach with a green sign reading Wisener Bridge — **Wisener Bridge**

Tallapoosa River winding through trees beyond Wisener Bridge — **The river continues**

The 1995 inscription and another river view

1995 inscription in the solid concrete railing of Wisener Bridge — **Wisener: 1995**

Tallapoosa River with an exposed bank and overhead utility line near Wisener Bridge — **Beside the wooded banks**

KEEP EXPLORING

Take a little of the story with you.

Remember a crossing before it changed, or have a photograph of a mill? Share a river memory or photo with Daniel.

Send it to someone who knows this river—or would like to.

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Photograph notes, sources & open questions

Photographs and place identifications supplied by Daniel Moss on November 1, 2026. The submission date is not a verified capture date for every image. Views record the conditions pictured, not current river conditions. Photographs can be enlarged; web copies have been resized without altering their content.

The route is a collection of visits by road and on foot, not a surveyed continuous paddle. A photographed crossing does not establish public parking or river access. Bridge years are transcribed as visible inscriptions. Upstream and downstream are used only where Daniel established the direction.

USGS, Low-flow profiles of the Tallapoosa River and tributaries in Georgia (1988): Mud Creek and McClendon Creek form the named river.
Greater Haralson Chamber, Paddle the Poosa: the named public-launch sequence; consulted November 1, 2026.
Georgia River Network, January 31, 2013 trail report, reprinting Amy K. Lavender: five proposed locations, including the Liner Road railroad trestle. Historical proposal only.
Monroe Mill Road: Daniel’s childhood memory of Tommy Spearman; old-road identification relayed by Linda Spearman from Tommy. The supports’ dates and a connection to mill foundations remain unestablished.

Next additions: the mill when photographed, firmer records for the old road supports, and operator or owner confirmation for the railroad take-out. The separate canoe guide retains its published-address conflicts and full-route review limits.