Bee County Medio Creek through truss Bridge, Normanna, Texas. (original) (raw)

Medio Creek through truss bridge
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2009

Medio Creek Bridge

Normanna -
Nearby on CR 241 is the historic MEDIO CREEK BRIDGE.

The bridge was the idea of Viggo Kohler, a man who later built the large Viggo Hotel in Hebbronville (1915). He petitioned the Bee County Commissioners to accept bids in June of 1897. The bridge arrived in kit form and was assembled by the Austin Brothers Bridge Company.

Near the bridge - the town of Mineral had been something of a health resort in the 1890s. Deepening the well caused the mineral content to decline to the point where people no longer came.

The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1987.

Historical Marker Text

Medio Creek Bridge

Built in 1897 by the New Jersey Iron and Steel Company, this bridge has served as one of the major crossings on the road from Beeville to San Antonio. Funding for the bridge was acquired from the sale of bonds from Bee County's permanent school fund. Construction costs totaled $3,990.

The steel Pratt through truss bridge, with a wooden deck and approaches, rests on riveted-steel caissons, or piers. It has survived numerous floods. The top of the bridge was restored in 1923, and a new floor was constructed in 1947. The bridge remained in service for vehicular traffic until 1987.

Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1987

The current condition of the Medio Creek Bridge
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2009

"Writing on the back of the postcard is a message from one of the men pictured on the bridge to his sister. He states this is the new bridge they just built. Postcard dated May 1909." - Will Beauchamp

The Medio Creek Bridge in a foggy morning
"Mother nature has pretty much taken it over."
- Will Beauchamp, November 12, 2007 photo