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Keystone Bridge

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1889, Mathias Tschirgi. Bridge St., over the Turkey River

Along with the adjacent courthouse, this double-span stone bridge constitutes one of Elkader's major civic monuments. The center piers of the bridge are pulled forward and suggest the towers of a medieval castle. The rusticated blocks laid on a regular ashlar pattern are massive in form, refined in detail. The bridge's designer, Mathias Tschirgi, also designed the high truss bridge over the Mississippi at Dubuque (1887). The keystone bridge was constructed by the firm of Byrne and Blade of Dubuque. At 346 feet in length the Elkader bridge is often billed as the longest keystone bridge west of the Mississippi.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
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Data

What's Nearby

Clayton County Courthouse
Carter-Reimer House
Opera House
McTaggart-Price House
Marmann-Stemmer House

Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "Keystone Bridge", [Elkader, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-ME211.

Print Source

Buildings of Iowa, David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, 95-95.

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