As art goes, the scribbling on the side of the U.S. 190 bridge over the Bogue Falaya River in Covington isn’t likely to make the connoisseurs put down their Pinot Grigio and say “Hmmmm.”
Banksy, this ain’t.
Instead, the grafitti painted onto the bridge’s steel understructure high above Boston Street has a different claim to local fame: It has endured for decades.
“CHS 64.”
Nearly 60 years later, the work’s creators remain shrouded in mystery. Old-timers around Covington chuckle when asked who was behind it.
“It’s been up there since 1964,” said Jimmy Holden, 75, who runs Holden Wrecker Service and was in Covington High’s Class of 1966. “I don’t know who did it. Now, I have an idea who did it.”
Don’t ask: Holden isn’t telling.
What is known is that the graffiti is the work of taggers from the school’s 1964 graduating class. At least so far as what’s out there publicly.
The popular story is that four people were involved, one who was dangled over the side of the bridge by the others with the help of rope fashioned into a harness.
Times-Picayune reporter Claire Galofaro tried to crack the case in 2011.
Her story opened thusly, “The story began as many such legends do – three high school football players, a small-town ice cream shop and a 1964 Friday night. It was muggy; they were bored and so decided to look for a little bit of trouble.”
The “CHS 64” spray-painted graffiti on the side of the Bogue Falaya bridge that’s being widened in Covington on Thursday, September 28, 2023. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
Galofaro’s story told of the footballers recruiting a smaller boy and holding him over the side of the bridge as he sprayed way. No, one of the culprits told the reporter, they had not been drinking.
That story matches most memories of those asked about it.
“I guess there wasn’t as much traffic back then,” said Sam O’Keefe, a former Covington City Council member who graduated from Covington High in 1974 and thus noted he was “much younger” than the artists.
Galofaro’s story named only one person who admitted taking part; death notices say he passed away in 2018.
While the bridge art might not stir the passions of the art world, it has achieved a measure of small-town fame – as much for its longevity as its lore.
Holden supposed that perhaps the state highway department has had more pressing matters over the years than removing those letters.
Construction work on the widening of the Bogue Falaya bridge in Covington on Thursday, September 28, 2023. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
But while the black spray paint of “CHS 64” has weathered the elements for six decades, its days are now numbered.
The state Department of Transportation and Development has embarked on a $30 million project to clear the chronic traffic snarls created by the 1940s-vintage, shoulderless U.S. 190 bridge over the river and Boston Street. Cranes are already in place, and a new, four-lane bridge structure will rise where the current one stands.
“Maybe now is the time for people to pay their respects,” Daniel Gitlin, a DOTD spokesperson, said of the grafitti, tongue firmly in cheek.
The new bridge is set to open sometime in 2025.