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Locust Creek Bridge near Laclede, Missouri.
10/15/2021 dwm photo |
The Locust Creek bridge was a link on America's first transcontinental road used by gold-diggers traveling to California in the Rush of 1849. Today it is in the middle of a forest, the creek's channel shifted to another route and the road replaced by U.S. Highway 36, a four-lane road a mile south of the bridge.
When we traveled to the Show Me State to visit the Missouri Star Quilt Company, I looked up the list of Missouri's covered bridges and found this one an hour east.
In 1967, the state stepped in to preserve its remaining covered bridges, taking possession of the five still standing with a plan to repair, preserve, and share the pieces of living history. One was wiped out by a flood shortly after the state's action became law, so there are four Covered Bridge Historic Sites.
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The section of the bridge crossed Locust Creek
before crews straightened its route through the
area. 10/15/2021 dwm photo |
The pictures look like the was moved to a local park for display. In this case, flood management efforts after World War II redirected the creek away from the bridge.
It's still surrounded by wetland and frequent flooding deposited topsoil around the bridge. In 1991, workers raised it 6-feet so it looked more like a bridge and off wet ground.
The bridge isn't the only historic site around Laclede; it's the boyhood home of General John J, Pershing who commanded American troops in World War I. As a kid, Pershing swam and fished in Locust Creek.
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Locust Creek, 1/4
mile from bridge.
dwm photo |
The bridge stands in its original location. By the time the state took over it was reduced to a memory as the forest reclaimed the old highway.
A gravel road takes you from U.S. Highway 36 to a smaller gravel road which leads to a parking lot near a pedestrian bridge over the present day Locust Creek, then it's a quarter-mile walk through the woods to the historic structure.
Beside the bridge, the trail provided a look at what things might have looked like in the 19th century. Near the bridge, signs tells the bridge's story from its reason for being to the contract signed in August, 1868 to spend $5,500 on its construction. It was completed before year's end.
The hike to the site, exploring the area, and reading its history was a fulfilling dive into the bridge's 70 year history that linked the east and west coasts with a nationwide road while also connecting one side of Linn County to another. That's the mission of every bridge, covered or not.
Locust Creek Covered Bridge
Laclede, Missouri
Built: 1868
Style: Howe Truss
Length: 151 feet, longest surviving covered bridge in state
You can read about more covered bridges in the upper Midwest by following this link.
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