Bridge No: L08515

County Name : Saint Louis

City/Township: Duluth

MINNESOTA IDSTORIC BRIDGE INVENTORY

Inventory Number : S L - l) \J l - 2.6{ 2. b

National Register EUglble : Yes

Critieria : C

Township: 050 Range: 14W Section: 11 sw-Nt- tJw Context : Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota

Period of Significance : 1922-194 7 UTM Coordinates: 15:570676:5186505

Structural Data

Main Span Type :

number main spam :

number appr spans :

structure length :

deck width:

Historical Data

S7o7>0 ~-/86'i"Lo

112

01

46.00

29.00

Year built: 1922

Contractor/Builder : City of Duluth

USGS Quadrangle : Duluth Retains Integrity : Yes

Superstrurture : single-span concrete arch

Substructure : stone-faced concrete abutments with flared wingwalls

Floor/Decking : earth fill over concrete arch supports bituminous paving

Other Features : sidewalks bordered by stone railings

Designer: City of Duluth Engineer's Office

Statement of significance :

Carrying Lewis Street over Tischers Creek, Bridge No. L08515 stands in a residential neighborhood ofDuluth known as "Oatmeal Hill." The crossing is a 16-foot, earth-filled, stone-faced concrete arch with a 27 -foot roadway bordered by a sidewalk on the north. The bridge's parapet walls rise above the roadway to form stone railings crested with angular rock fragments. The bridge's masonry veneer is rubblework native gabbro. With its dark craggy stonework and spiked railings, the bridge recalls the picturesque Rustic Style popularized by the National Park Service during the early twentieth centwy.

In January 1922, the Duluth City Council decided that "public convenience and safety" required the construction of a highway crossing over Tischers Creek on Lewis Street in an area of the city known as Oatmeal Hill, which had been developed during the late nineteenth century as a summer enclave for well-to-do Duluth residents. In keeping with the district's rural suburban character, the city engineer's office designed the new crossing as a stone-faced concrete arch, using a cladding of native gabbro -- a dark, durable rock, known locally as bluestone, that was widely employed for building purposes in the Duluth area. Instead of putting the work out to bid, the city constructed the bridge with day labor, under the supervision of municipal engineer E.K. Coe. Construction was completed before the end of 1922, at a total cost of $3,296.

With its well-crafted, uncoursed, rock-faced masonry and angular parapet cresting, Bridge No. L08515 is a fine example of the Rustic Style. The bridge is eligible for its architectural design under Criterion C, within the historic context of "Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota, 1900-1945." The Multiple Property Documentation Form

Hess, Roise and Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota

._,

MINNESOTA ffiSTORIC BRIDGE INVENfORY

ass_ociated .with this context states, in Registration Criterion 5, that a concrete highway bridge may be eligible under Criterion C if it displays notable aesthetics. Bridge No. 1°8515 satisfies this criterion.

References :

~esota Department of Transportation Bridge Database; Bridge No. 108515 File, in Minnesota Department of Transportation, Waters Edge Building, Roseville? Minnesolil:; Bndge No. 108515 File, in Engineering Division, Duluth Public Works Department, Duluth, Minnesota; Duluth City Council, Proceedings, 16, 18 January.l922, m Duluth Cl~ Hall, D~lu~; Robert M.. Frame, "Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota, • National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property DocumentatiOn Form, Sec. F, 8• m State Histone Preservation Office, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul; field inspection by Shawn P. Rounds, 19 September 1996.

Form Prepared By : Jeffrey A. Hess

Hess, Raise and Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota