Oak Forest Bridge
Gonzales, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In October 1913, Gonzales County commissioners contracted with A.A. Alsbury & Company to construct a bridge over the Guadalupe River. Completed by February 1914, it connected the rural communities of Oak Forest and Monthalia, both established in the 19th century. A.A. Alsbury & Company utilized a Parker through truss design of the Ottumwa Bridge Company of Iowa for the bridge, which was originally 140 feet long and included Pratt trusses on either side of the main span. The Texas Department of Transportation relocated the main span to this site above Kerr Creek in 2004, and it now serves as an element of the community's trail system and as a reminder of early transportation. (2005)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In late 1913, Gonzales County commissioners hired A.A. Alsbury & Company to bridge the Guadalupe River, and by February 1914 the crossing joined the rural communities of Oak Forest and Monthalia. Builders used a Parker through truss designed by the Ottumwa Bridge Company of Iowa, flanked by Pratt trusses along its original 140-foot length. In 2004 the Texas Department of Transportation moved the main span here over Kerr Creek, where it now carries a community trail.
Why it matters
The relocated truss preserves an early-twentieth-century river crossing that once knit isolated farm communities together, a working reminder of how bridges opened rural Texas to travel and trade.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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