Leon River Bridge, 1904
Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The route once known as the Old Georgetown Road was in existence by 1854 and crossed the Leon River here. A ferry operated at this crossing as early as 1854 and was owned by R. G. Grant, a local entrepreneur and land developer. The Bowstring Truss Bridge erected near here in 1882 was the first metal truss bridge in Coryell County. It was damaged by two major floods in 1899 and 1900, and the County Commissioners Court authorized the building of another bridge. The George E. King Bridge Company of Des Moines, Iowa built this structure in 1904. Features include steel construction, wood decking, original lattice railings, pin-connected members, and elaborate stone abutments. The overall length of 141 feet from end to end allows for the 4-foot depth of masonry piers supporting the bridge. It is a 137-foot Pratt through truss span with a 5-foot timber approach span, and is one of few such bridges surviving in Texas. The 1904 bridge served as a major east-west artery for Central Texas. The road became part of State Highway 7 in 1917, and was renamed U.S. Highway 84 in the 1930s. The historic bridge was restored and rededicated in 1994. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1996
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A crossing of the Leon River on the Old Georgetown Road, in use by 1854, this site began with R. G. Grant's ferry and Coryell County's first metal truss bridge, a bowstring span erected in 1882. After floods wrecked that bridge in 1899 and 1900, the George E. King Bridge Company of Iowa built the present 137-foot Pratt through-truss span in 1904, with pin-connected members, lattice railings, and stone abutments. It carried east–west traffic as part of State Highway 7 and later U.S. Highway 84, and was restored in 1994.
Why it matters
One of the few such bridges left in Texas, it charts the evolution of American road travel from frontier ferry to numbered federal highway.
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Related people
- · R. G. Grant
Themes & tags
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