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Zumbrota (relocation #2), Goodhue County

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Inventory Number: MN/23-25-01
County: Goodhue County
Township:
Town/Village: Zumbrota
Bridge Name: Zumbrota (relocation #2)
Crosses:
Truss type: Lattice variant
Spans: 1
Length: 120'
Roadway Width:
Built: 1869 (M1970)
Builder: Evander L. Kingsbury
When Lost: 1997
Cause: Moved
Latitude: N44 17.95
Longitude: W092 40.38
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: Zumbrota Covered Bridge Park.

Zumbrota Bridge, Zumbrota, Goodhue County, MN Built 1869 Moved 1932, 1970, and 1997
Richard Roy Collection

Zumbrota Bridge, Zumbrota, Goodhue County, MN Built 1869 Moved 1932, 1970, and 1997
Todd Clark Collection

Zumbrota Bridge as a Storage Shed at the Fairgrounds, Zumbrota, Goodhue County, MN Built 1869
Fred Wunsch Photo

Zumbrota Bridge, Zumbrota, Goodhue County, MN Built 1869 Moved 1932, 1970, and 1997
Patrick Toth Photo, May 9, 2015

Zumbrota Bridge, Zumbrota, Goodhue County, MN Built 1869 Moved 1932, 1970, and 1997
Theodore Burr Covered Bridge Resource Center Collection

Zumbrota Bridge, Zumbrota, Goodhue County, MN Built 1869 Moved 1932, 1970, and 1997
Bill & Jenn Caswell Photo, August 29, 2018

Comments:
Lattice w/Fanned Truss Planks. In 1869, the Stafford Western Emigration Company contracted a member of their organization to construct the bridge. The bridge was constructed at a cost of $5,800 by local carpenter Evander L. Kingsbury using a lattice truss design. As initially constructed, the bridge was built with white-pine timbers used for the structural supports and the floor, and the planks were pinned together with turned white-oak dowels. It is often referred to as a Town lattice, but it does not follow Ithiel Town’s design. Shortly after the bridge was constructed, the Stafford Western Emigration Company enclosed it with weatherproof sides and portals and a low gabled roof with cedar shingles. A vertical board-and-batten exterior trim was added to the sides and portals. The enclosure was completed by 1871 and served to lengthen the life of the structural supports beyond their normal projected twenty years of serviceability. The exterior was originally painted red, in later years it was painted white. In 1932, when the covered bridge was replaced by the Minnesota Highway Department with a steel bridge that could handle the increased traffic, it was moved to the nearby Goodhue County Fairgrounds for preservation purposes and the bridge served as an exhibit hall and storage shed and even a beer garden. The organization of the Zumbrota Covered Bridge Society began the community's efforts to preserve the last remaining covered bridge in Minnesota. Repainted red and reroofed with cedar shingles, the bridge was moved to the Zumbrota Covered Bridge Park in 1970. In 1997, the bridge was placed over the Zumbro River at West Avenue, one block west of its original location and near the new City Hall and new Public Library. The preservation of the covered bridge is assured not only by the community and the Covered Bridge Society, but also by the Goodhue County Historical Society and the Minnesota Historical Society which has contributed both support and technical assistance.

Sources:
Allen, Richard Sanders. Covered Bridges of the Middle West, 1970, page 111
Zumbrota Covered Bridge & Covered Bridge Park, http://www.zumbrota.com/bridge.htm (12 May 2007)
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 42

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