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Freeport Bridge

Winneshiek County, Iowa

Photos 

Side view

Photo taken Oct. 2005 by Jason & Birgit Smith

BH Photo #101915

Map 

Street View 

Description 

Crossing the Upper Iowa River near Decorah, the Freeport Bridge was constructed in 1879 and measures 156 feet in length. It is one of four bowstring arch bridges in Winneshiek County, and is the second longest existing in the country. The Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio built the bridge. In its extensive dealings with the Wrought Iron Bridge Company, Winneshiek County was simply following a regional trend. In the 1870s, the Ohio-based bridge company became one of the largest fabricators in America, and its president, David Hammond, one of the country's most prolific bridge innovators. The counties and municipalities of Iowa were among WIBCo's best customers. Winneshiek County's almost exclusive relationship with WIBCo was atypical but the Ohio giant was extremely active in the region at this time. Winneshiek County continued to deal almost exclusively with WIBCos throughout the remainder of the 1870s, erecting several more bowstrings at rural crossings of the Turkey and Upper Iowa Rivers. The Freeport Bridge has been moved from its abutments and now is located in Trout Run Park in Decorah. [adapted from Crow-Dolby and Fraser 1992]

Facts 

Overview
Relocated bowstring through truss bridge at Trout Run Park in Decorah
Location
Winneshiek County, Iowa
Status
Open to pedestrians only
History
Originally built 1878 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Co. over Upper Iowa River on a county road; relocated 1989
Builder
- Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio
Design
Bowstring through truss
Dimensions
Total length: 160.0 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on April 19, 1984
Approximate latitude, longitude
+43.29046, -91.75996   (decimal degrees)
43°17'26" N, 91°45'36" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/600596/4793817 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Decorah
Inventory numbers
NRHP 84001407 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 14733 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (8,332)
Bowstring through truss (329)
Bowstring truss (664)
Built 1878 (105)
Built during 1870s (1,259)
HAER documented (1,122)
Have street view (28,882)
Historic Bridge Weekend 2013 (145)
Iowa (6,790)
 NR-listed (3,013)
Open to pedestrians (4,580)
Relocated (1,035)
Through truss (16,729)
Total length 125-175 feet (6,179)
Truss (35,396)
Winneshiek County, Iowa (96)
Wrought Iron Bridge Co. (441)

Update Log 

  • October 10, 2017: New photos from Lee Smith
  • November 19, 2013: New Street View added by Brent Tindall
  • July 22, 2011: Updated by Luke Harden: Added description
  • October 9, 2010: New photos from Ruth Reynolds
  • October 9, 2009: New photos from Jason Smith
  • February 4, 2008: New photos from Jason Smith
  • December 22, 2005: Posted photos from Jason & Birgit Smith

Sources 

  • Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
  • HAER IA-19 - Freeport Bridge
  • HAER IA-18 - Lower Plymouth Rock Bridge
  • HAER IA-90 - Structural Study of Iron Bowstring Bridges
  • Ruth Reynolds - ruthmusic [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Luke
  • Historicbridges.org - by Nathan Holth
  • Lee Smith - ljsmith_32 [at] hotmail [dot] com
  • Brent Tindall - bizzat219 [at] yahoo [dot] com

Comments 

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