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sprang up to grind down certain products, separating the "wheat from the chaff," so to speak, thus lightening their loads. Taverns, inns, warehouses, wheelwrights, and other enterprises established themselves near fords to service tradesmen and travelers, their teams of horses, wagons, coaches, or animals being driven to market. But time was money, and bridge technology in the late 1800s allowed fords to be spanned by bridges, speeding up commerce.
The 1882 Madison
Mills Bridge
The three-span bridge at Barnett's Ford (Madison Mills) was a joint venture between Madison and Orange Counties. Each county court appointed a Bridge Commission. They met jointly and subsequently reported in the July 1881 court term on the prospects for a bridge over the Rapidan River at or near Barnett's Ford. Three-fifths of the cost was to be paid by Orange County, twofifths by Madison County. The Orange County Board of Supervisors, at their November 29,1881 meeting, appropriated $100 to work on a road leading from Orange Courthouse to Barnett's Ford. The Orange County Clerk in January 1882, appointed a Bridge Commission to receive proposals for the building of the bridge, but this time the costs were to be split equally between Orange and Madison Counties. Their report was accepted at the Board of Supervisors meeting of March 21, 1882.
Progress was evident by an Orange Observer news item of July 15, 1882, noting that; "The bridge commissioners met at Barnett's Ford on Wednesday last and received the masonry work, which has been completed. Everything is now ready for the erection of
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