Property Record
STATE HIGHWAY 105 AND MINN STATE HIGHWAY 23 OVER ST LOUIS RIVER
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Oliver Bridge |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 17201 |
| Location (Address): | STATE HIGHWAY 105 AND MINN STATE HIGHWAY 23 OVER ST LOUIS RIVER |
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| County: | Douglas |
| City: | Oliver |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1910 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1975 |
| Historic Use: | bridge |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
| Structural System: | Steel Frame |
| Wall Material: | Metal |
| Architect: | US STEEL |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. DOUBLE DECK BRIDGE W/ RR AND ROAD LEVELS [Date Cnst:CA (NEWSPAPERS)] In 1892, miners discovered an enormous lode of high-grade, soft iron-ore in northeastern Minnesota’s Mesabi Range, bringing an economic boom to Superior. The city became a major port for shipping ore to eastern markets; by 1900, the Lake Superior region supplied three-quarters of the nation’s iron. The leader in the area’s mining boom was the United States Steel Corporation, which acquired all the means necessary for producing and marketing steel, including the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway Company. A part of a never-completed new railway line was the Oliver Bridge, erected in 1910. The 2,189-foot bridge boasts two steel decks: the top one for wagons and automobiles, the bottom one for the railroad. The highway deck incorporates a 23-foot timber floor and a 6-foot sidewalk. The entire through-truss structure (so-called because vehicles move through the trusswork) consists of thirty-two spans between concrete abutments. The spans range from 31 to 150 feet long, the largest being a 155-foot swing span, which pivots on a horizontal plane around a vertical axis to allow ships to pass on the St. Louis steel beam or plate girder bridge |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |