King Bridge Company Explained

The King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company was a late-19th-century bridge building company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded by Zenas King (1818–1892) in 1858 and subsequently managed by his sons, James A. King and Harry W. King and then his grandson, Norman C. King, until the mid-1920s. Many of the bridges built by the company were used during America's expansion west in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and some of these bridges are still standing today.

Remaining examples

• Pyeatt's Mill Bridge AKA "Boner Bridge" (1869, Restored 2010), Little Pigeon River in Warrick County, Indiana^[1]
• Crum Road Bridge (1875), Walkersville, Maryland
• Skunk River Bridge (1876), Story County, Iowa. Originally located over the Skunk River in Cambridge, Iowa, moved southeast of Ames, Iowa in 1916. Vacated in 1990, and NRHP-listed in 1998.^[2]
• Marmaton Bridge (1878), Fort Scott, Kansas, 1 mile NE of Fort Scott, NRHP-listed
• Bowstring Truss Bridge (1878), near Ironto, Virginia^[3]
• Half Chance Iron Bridge (1880), Marengo County, Alabama
• Sparkill Creek Drawbridge (1880), Piermont, New York
• Adel Bridge (1882), Adel, Iowa. NRHP-listed in 2002^[4]
• Bentonsport Bridge (1882), Bentonsport, Iowa, NRHP-listed
• Beech Fork Bridge, Mackville Road (1884), near Springfield, Kentucky, NRHP-listed
• Cartwright Creek Bridge (1884), also near Springfield, Kentucky, NRHP-listed
• Old Alton Bridge (1884), Denton County, Texas
• Quarry Bridge (1885), County Road I-4 over the Iowa River, Quarry, Iowa. NRHP-listed
• Second Street Bridge (1886), Allegan, Michigan, NRHP-listed
• Monsrud Bridge (1887), Waterville, Iowa relocated to Yellow River State Forest in 2004, NRHP-listed^[5]
• Merriam Street Bridge (1887), Minneapolis, Minnesota (originally built in 1887 as the Broadway Avenue Bridge, one span relocated to Nicollet Island in 1987)
• Swing Bridge at New Bridge Landing (1888), Main St. and Old New Bridge Rd. over Hackensack River, in Teaneck and River Edge, New Jersey NRHP-listed
• Old Richardsville Road Bridge (1889) Bowling Green, Kentucky over Barren River. Bridge is NRHP-listed.
• Bennies Hill Road Bridge (1889), Frederick County, Maryland
• South Dakota Department of Transportation Bridge No. 14-088-170 (1890), Vermillion, South Dakota, local road over Clay Creek Ditch, NRHP-listed
• Clear Creek Bridge (1891), Twp. Rd. over Clear Cr., 5.8 mi. NW of Bellwood, Bellwood, Nebraska NRHP-listed
• Waverly Street Bridge (1892), Waverly St. at Georges Creek, Westernport, Maryland. NRHP-listed
• Hogback Bridge (1893), Curwensville, Pennsylvania
• Singing Bridge (1894), Frankfort, Kentucky, also known as St. Clair Street Bridge^{[6] [7]}
• Ellsworth Ranch Bridge (1895), 130th St., over E fork of Des Moines R., Armstrong, Iowa NRHP-listed
• Rosendale trestle (1895–96), Rosendale, New York
• Dearborn River High Bridge (1897), 15 mi. SW of Augusta on Bean Lake Rd., Augusta, Montana NRHP-listed
• Manhasset Viaduct (1898), carries the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road over Manhasset Bay between the Village of Thomaston and the Hamlet of Manhasset.^[8]
• Niantic River Bridge (1907), New London County, Connecticut (1907, being replaced in 2010-2012), deemed NRHP-eligible in 1987 but not finally NRHP-listed due to owner objection
• Robidoux Creek Pratt Truss Bridge (1910), Frankfort, Kansas, on Sunflower Road over Robidoux Creek, NRHP-listed
• Detroit-Superior Bridge (1918), Cleveland, Ohio

Additional bridges designed and/or built by the company (and many likely to be surviving) are:

• Abandoned Illinois Railway (IR) Through truss bridge over Rock River, Rockford, Illinois. Built 1890s, relocated to present location 1929.^[9] Repurposed as a rail trail bridge in 2016.^[10]

Hendricks Ford Bridge (1880) Edinburg, Indiana

Demolished bridges

• KY 2541 Bridge (1884), Greenup, Kentucky over Little Sandy River, NRHP-listed, demolished 2012 and replaced
• Bridge over North Fork of Roanoke River (1892), near Ironto, Virginia, demolished 1995-1996
• Williams Street Bridge (1894), Helena, Montana, Williams St. crossing Ten Mile Creek, N of jct. of Williams St. and Broadwater Ave., NRHP-listed. Replaced by new bridge in 2010.
• South Dakota Dept. of Transportation Bridge No. 29-221-060 (1894), Castlewood, South Dakota, local road over the Big Sioux River, NRHP-listed, demolished and replaced 1999

External links

• King Bridge Museum
• King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company at the Cleveland Digital Library

Notes and References

1. Web site: Boner Bridge, Little Pigeon Creek, Warrick County, IN. Historic and Notable Bridges of the U.S.. Bridgehunter. 2022-08-08.
2. Web site: Skunk River bridge. Historic Bridges of Iowa. Iowa Department of Transportation. 2012-03-25.
3. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Bowstring Truss Bridge. Antony F. Opperman. May 2008. Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
4. Web site: Adel Bridge. National Park Service. 2016-04-03. Elizabeth Foster, Clayton Fraser.
5. Web site: Monsrud bridge. Iowa Department of Transportation. 2016-08-17.
6. Web site: The Singing Bridge in Frankfort, Kentucky . King Bridge Company Museum . September 16, 2010.
7. Web site: Location and Geography . City of Frankfort . September 16, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100826195351/http://www.frankfort.ky.gov/location-and-geography.html . August 26, 2010 .
8. Web site: LIRR - Manhasset Viaduct. 2020-08-13. Bridgehunter.com.
9. Web site: Rockford Rail-Trail Bridge. Bridgehunter.com. July 27, 2022.
10. Web site: Old, Unused Railroad Bridge Gets Re-Purposed As Pedestrian Bridge. O'Brien. Eric. www.wifr.com. 2016-06-02.