Where in Elk County Am I?

[flintauqua]

1863 - 1776 = 87 or as Abraham Lincoln famously said "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

So we have the year 1893.  So what got put together that year?

It's not Star School.   

[flintauqua]

The nearby prominent sandstone ledge is named for "the town too tough to die".

[Ole Granny]

Elk Falls Bridge     between the falls and the basin..  Just a guess.

[flintauqua]

Does anyone else agree with Ole Granny?

[Wilma]

Yes, the iron truss bridge at Elk Falls.

[flintauqua]

I knew this one was too easy to last very long.  David Alexander from California guessed it yesterday evening over on my FB wall, followed not too long afterward by Ole Granny here.

Pin-connected, 7-panel Pratt through truss bridge over Elk River beyond the end of Montgomery Street in Elk Falls, built in 1893 by the George E. King Bridge Co. of Des Moines, Iowa.  Added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1994.

Also, from http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-elkfalls2.html

"On November 15, 1892, the board of Elk County Commissioners, voted to build an iron truss bridge over Elk River, connecting the dirt roads into the main thoroughfare leading into Elk Falls from the northeast. Built at a cost of $2,000, it was completed in 1893. Pratt Truss Bridge, as it is called, was unique for its type since expansion joint were made from rollers, rather than wheels. The bridge still stands today and is on the National Register of Historic Places."

. . . "When Kansas Highway 160 was built through Elk Falls in 1957, the traffic on the old steel bridge dwindled to almost nothing. And, when the Elk River experienced a dramatic flood in 1976, most of the wooden planks making up the bridge floor were taken with the turbulent waters. The old bridge was no longer feasible for repair or vehicular traffic and the Elk County Commissioners voted to condemn the bridge and closed it. However, plans to destroy the bridge were fortunately delayed and in 1983, the bridge was preserved as a foot bridge.  In 1992, the bridge was made a historical site by the Kansas State Historical Society and in 1994 was placed on the  National Register of Historic Sites."

[flintauqua]

Since that round went so quick, let's play a round of Name That Bridge.  Street or road location or directions from a well known landmark and stream it crosses.  Please send answers via personal message here so others can continue playing.  Happy hunting!

[flintauqua]

Ole Granny strikes again.  She identified Bridge One last night, but is still working on Bridge Two.  Anyone else playing?

[Wilma]

Bridge one is a highway bridge, but I can't be sure where it is without traveling that highway again. 

Can bridge two be seen from the highway?

[flintauqua]

Bridge one is a highway bridge, but I can't be sure where it is without traveling that highway again. 

Can bridge two be seen from the highway?

Neither of these bridges are on a state or federal highway.  The first one can be seen from a highway as it is only four blocks off of one.  The second bridge used to be on an extremely well-traveled gravel road between two Elk County towns, but was replaced in the last twenty years.  They straightened the road at the same time as building a new bridge, leaving the old one in place about 200 feet southwest (and downstream) of the new one.