South Downey Street Bridge

The 1917 steel and concrete bridge across South Downey Street, 1931

National Park Service

Quick Facts

Location:

West Branch, Iowa

Significance:

Part of Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

Amenities

2 listed

Audio Description, Wheelchair Accessible

Meeting minutes from the town council reveal how West Branch approved its first bridge on South Downey Street over the stream we now call Hoover Creek.

Construction projects in our time require months— or years— of planning, detailed specifications, reviews, and letting of contracts. Building the bridge over Hoover Creek seems to have been almost simple. The council approved the proposed bridge at a meeting on June 4, 1877. They instructed the street commissioner, Thomas Reeves (also the town marshal) to handle the project with a budget of $75.

At the very next meeting, July 17, the Reeves reported on the completed project and what it had cost— $62.94. Fifteen dollars of this amount were credit given to men who worked on the project instead of paying their local taxes in cash. The only itemized expense associated with the bridge was $12.73 paid to Charles Leech for lumber and posts.

The finished bridge was 22 feet long, resting on cedar piles driven deep into the creek mud. A basic pony truss along the sides of the bridge deck helped support the structure. 

In 1917 he town rebuilt the bridge, twice constructed out of wood, with a steel beam and concrete span. The National Park Service built a replacement bridge in 2021, part of the reconstruction of Hoover Creek to reduce flooding. The newest bridge attempts to recreate the original appearance and concrete railing of the 1917 bridge. Cedar pilings recovered from the creek during construction may have been the footings for the 1877 bridge.

• Crossing at South Downey Street

  
  

  The South Downey Street Bridge extends across a tributary of the West Branch of the Wapsinonoc Creek, now known as Hoover Creek.

  Credit / Author:

  NPS

  Date created:

  01/16/2021

  Audio Transcript

  The South Downey Street Bridge extends across an unnamed tributary of the West Branch of the Wapsinonoc Creek. (sound effects: running creek, children) When Hoover was a boy, it was just a small stream of water trickling through marshy wetlands, which is why the neighborhood kids took their willow fishing poles about a quarter mile east to catch sunfish and catfish in the main creek. In March 1875, the citizens of West Branch petitioned Cedar County to build "a bridge on Downey Street, near Jesse Hoover's blacksmith shop" so wagons could get across. Twice constructed out of wood, it was finally rebuilt in 1917 as a steel beam and concrete span. Over time, farmers plowed the rain-absorbing prairie into cultivated fields, and as urban pavement increased rainfall runoff, the creek suffered from too little water in dry seasons and too much water in wet seasons. In 1993, floodwaters nearly reached the foundation of the nearby Friends Meeting House where Bertie and his family once worshipped. Take a look at the stream below, and notice how narrow the waterway is. Studies by the National Park Service, in their efforts to create a Stream Management Plan, have revealed that floods have cut a channel in the streambed. That means when floodwaters come, soil is carved from the stream banks. This erosion is threatening the park's historic structures, artifacts, and documents. The National Park Service is looking for ways to control the force of the stream and reduce this erosion. These efforts will help prevent the loss of vegetation that supports native wildlife and anchors this protective green space. As Commerce Secretary for President Warren Harding and later as President, Herbert Hoover supported several environmental conservation measures, especially in regard to water resources development and fisheries management. Perhaps these viewpoints got their start in a young boy's memories of sun-dappled streams and the joy of exploring with his childhood friends the waters of Wapsinonoc Creek. (sound effects: running creek, children laughing, calling out).