Property Record
N240 OLD STATE HIGHWAY 26
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Glacial River Trail Covered Bridge |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 224647 |
| Location (Address): | N240 OLD STATE HIGHWAY 26 |
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| County: | Jefferson |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Koshkonong |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 5 |
| Range: | 13 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 36 |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1980 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2013 |
| Historic Use: | wood bridge |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Board and Batten |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | By the end of 1856, construction began on a portion of the north-south Chicago, St. Paul, & Fond du Lac Railroad from Fond du Lac to Watertown through the Towns of Koshkonong and Jefferson. To finance its construction, additional bonds were made for $150,000 by the City of Watertown, $100,000 by the City of Fort Atkinson, $75,000 by the City of Jefferson, $25,000 by the Village of Johnson Creek, and $50,000 by the City of Juneau in Dodge County. Work on the line was stopped during the railroad crash of 1857; however, work resumed in 1859. The line through the Towns of Koshkonong and Jefferson was completed that year. Around that time the railroad company was reorganized as the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. By the turn of the century, as many as sixteen passenger trains passed through the Towns of Jefferson and Koshkonong daily, stopping in the Cities of Jefferson and Fort Atkinson. Service along the line was discontinued by the 1980s. The Glacial River Trail is an 8.5-mile recreation trail developed on a portion of the former Chicago and North Western Railroad’s right-of-way. At the time of the trail’s development in the early 1980s, a replica covered bridge was constructed to cross the trail over a branch of Otter Creek immediately south of Haight Road. The trail runs from Fort Atkinson to the county line of Jefferson and Rock Counties. The paved and gravel trail is open all year to bicyclists, skaters, hikers, joggers, snowmobilers, and skiers. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Jefferson County Trails, Rock River Trail website. <www.rockrivertrail.com> Accessed June 11, 2013. Swart, Hannah. Koshkonong Country – A History of Jefferson County Wisconsin. Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin: W. D. Hoard & Sons Co., 1975. Pages 22-23. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |