Freeport Bridge, Spanning Upper Iowa River, Decorah, Winneshiek County, IA

Significance: The Freeport Bridge is one of the few unaltered examples remaining of what had once been the standard rural roadway bridge type of the 1870s in America, the bowstring arch-truss. This patented tubular arch design was marketed extensively throughout the United States and Canada by the Wrought Iron Bridge company, one of America's most important 19th century iron bridge fabricators. Among the bowstrings currently identified in America, the Freeport Bridge is second in span length only to a 183.5-foot structure in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company in 1873.

Survey number: HAER IA-19

Building/structure dates: 1878 Initial Construction

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 84001407

bridges decorah freeport bridge freeport bridge upper iowa upper iowa river winneshiek winneshiek county historic american engineering record winship winship ohio wrought iron bridge company of canton photo ultra high resolution high resolution minnesota library of congress national register of historic places railway photo archive

1969 - 1980

Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/

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