This picture taken by Joseph N. Alderson, III, is probably the most familiar, if not the most famous picture of the bridge. Used by permission, it was one of the very first photos used on the Aldersonian website and it covers the face of many thousands of postcards.  Closed to vehicular traffic in 1977, you can see its replacement in the background. In this scene is truly captured  what everyone would want  their hometown to be like. Alderson, West Virginia.

An Aldersonian’s Lament
Barry Worrell  

On the banks of the Greenbrier River, ‘neath the shadow of Keeney’s Knob,
stands the little town of Alderson, on West Virginia sod.

 Her history extends to long ago, and helped to seal her fate,
existing years before West Virginia became a state.

 I was one of numerous souls, who felt her heart that beats.
I climbed her mountains, swam her river, and strolled her tree lined streets.

 I like many others who left this cherished town,
to work, to wed, whatever the reason would affect us all deep down.

 But over and over she found a way to bring me back again.
Her great, big, wonderful smile is now a faint, faint grin.

 Things of her I still see, I remember, and I smile.
I always spend a little time, to look around a while.

 I know that day soon will come, her call I can not heed.
For certain she will out last me, my life I must concede.

But in my mind, she is restored, and I’m a child again.
I walk the streets with no shoes on, and play all day with friends.