RALEIGH – A pair of Edgecombe County bridges will be dedicated next year in honor of a farming couple who operated a general store and a trio of three deputy sheriffs who have been killed in the line of duty.
The N.C. Board of Transportation approved both resolutions at its regular meeting on Thursday in Raleigh. The resolutions recognize the following individuals:
- Katie and Linwood “Karo” Edmondson, who were married, farmed and ran a general store on N.C. 42 in the Old Sparta community. The new N.C. 42 bridge under construction over the Tar River will be named the “Katie and Karo Edmondson Bridge.”
- Because of their sacrifices and service, the names of these three slain Edgecombe County deputy sheriffs will be immortalized on the McNair Road bridge crossing the U.S. 64 Bypass in Tarboro:
- Haywood Webb, who was shot while serving a warrant in 1964;
- Thomas Cone, who was killed when his patrol car was struck by a drunken driver in 1990; and
- David Manning, who died in a 2018 crash while pursuing a driver suspected of being impaired.
The McNair Road span will be named as the “Deputy H Webb, Deputy T Cone and Deputy D Manning Bridge.” The three men were also Edgecombe County residents.
The requests to name both bridges after these individuals came from the Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners, which passed resolutions earlier this year.
The Old Sparta community relied on the Edmondsons in several ways. Their general store served as a bank, a grocery store, a news outlet and a fellowship hall. Former Gov. Jim Hunt is among the leaders who have recognized this couple’s public service.
The NCDOT contractor building the new N.C. 42 bridge that will be named for the couple is nearing completion: Sometime next month, it will open, but it in a temporary one-way traffic pattern until the existing bridge alongside of it can be demolished by next spring.
The signs for both bridges will be manufactured and installed at a later date not yet set.