Rating:
14733
{86}%
10 votes
Freeport Bridge
Photos
Side view
Photo taken Oct. 2005 by Jason & Birgit Smith
BH Photo #101915
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)
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