June 29th
Sorry, but I couldn't resist paraphrasing the great line from Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Eli Wallach's death this week at 98 kind of reminded me of this movie and this great line although he was not in the movie.
Madison County, Iowa is the covered bridge capital of Iowa. Made popular by the novel "The Bridges of Madison County" the county lost no time in converting these historic treasures into publicity and tourist attractions. When you are a farming area you've got to do something to increase tourist trade and the resulting dollars, don't you?
Most of the bridges are from about the same time period - 1870 to 1884 and construction techniques are very similar. Unlike the covered bridges we had in Chester County, PA and Frederick County, MD, these are "cookie cutter" designs. There is very little variation in exterior looks and interior construction. Oh well, they are still nice to look at and explore. The bridges are actually named after the property owners nearby the original location.
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| Cutler-Donahoe (1870) Re-located to the city park in Winterset |
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| Cedar (1883, rebuilt in 2004 after an arson fire in 2002) Only bridge you can drive over |
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| The Holliwell is the longest bridge at 122 ft |
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| Imes (1870) re-located to dry ravine in St. Charles |
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| Hogback (1884) |
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| Roseman (1883) |
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