Boyleston Bridge, Spanning Skunk River, Lowell, Henry County, IA

Significance: The Boylestown Bridge is a rare survivor of what once was a common truss type on the farm-to-market county road systems in the rural Midwest. According to an Iowa Department of Transportation bridge survey in progress, it is one of only three extant Camelback truss bridges in the state. The bridge serves as a significant reminder of an era when the counties in Iowa invested significant effort and expense in completing a transportation network to facilitate the shipment of agricultural products from the farm to the nearest distribution center. The proliferation of local bridge fabricating firms was a concurrent phenomenon, represented in this instance by the Fair-Williams Bridge Company of Ottumwa, Iowa. Such nineteenth century companies fabricated and erected inexpensive and serviceable bridges throughout the Midwest.

Survey number: HAER IA-5

Building/structure dates: 1897 Initial Construction

vehicular bridges lowell boyleston bridge boyleston bridge skunk skunk river henry county iowa fair williams bridge company historic american engineering record j a schreiner photo ultra high resolution high resolution historic american landscapes survey historic american buildings survey library of congress

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html