While enslaved in Columbus, Georgia, Horace King and his enslaver were prominent covered-bridge builders in the South. Freed before the Civil War, King and his sons formed a contracting business that worked to build a better Georgia. They built countless covered bridges across the state (including one in Athens), and several can still be visited today.

While enslaved in Columbus, Georgia, Horace King and his enslaver were prominent covered-bridge builders in the South. Freed before the Civil War, King and his sons formed a contracting business that worked to build a better Georgia. They built countless covered bridges across the state (including one in Athens), and several can still be visited today.