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First Street, Polk County

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Inventory Number: IA/15-77-02x
County: Polk County
Township: Des Moines
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: First Street
Crosses: Raccoon River
Truss type:
Spans: 2
Length:
Roadway Width:
Built: 1858
Builder:
When Lost: 1872
Cause: Replaced
Latitude: N41 34.737
Longitude: W093 36.916
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: First St. in Des Moines.
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Comments:
This was the first bridge built in Des Moines. The original First Street Bridge was built in 1862 by Dr. M. P. Turner as a toll bridge. It was carried away in an ice jam in 1865, but rebuilt the same year by Dr. Turner with financial help from people living south of the Raccoon. It was given to the City of Des Moines in 1868 and made free to the public. It was condemned by the City in 1871 and a new covered bridge was built in 1872 at the same location. The streetcar line eventually crossed this bridge. The center pier of this bridge was washed out in a flood on July 10, 1902. At one point, the roof was removed to lighten the load on the bridge. The bridge was still existing at the time of a March 9, 1910 Des Moines Daily News article mentioning its weakened state. It was condemned many times between 1885 and 1912, but the change of the river's course is what finally ended the bridge.
Sources:
Bird's Eye View of the City of Des Moines, 1868, Merchants Lithographing.
Waterloo Evening Courier, February 22, 1916, page 6

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