Greenhorn Creek Bridge

Greenhorn Creek Bridge. The unusual bridge offered a window to travel on one of Colorado's earliest highways. Built in 1928, the Greehorn Bridge carried Pueblo County Road 273/Apache City Road over Greeenhorn Creek and was a rare example of a Warren deck truss structure. Because of its association with the early route known as the Great North - South Highway and the infrequent use of that structural type, the bridge was determined eligible to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000., The Colorado Highway Department constructed many rigid-connected trusses in the 1920s and 1930s. Most of these trusses were built as pony or through truss structures, with the road deck situated at the base of the truss superstructure. The Greenhorn Creek Bridge represented a deviation from the typical truss configuration by locating the truss below the deck. The bridge was replaced in 2019. , 1930 Travel Map of Colorado by the State Highway Department of Colorado showing the old alignment of the great North - South Highway passing through Greenhorn., The Great North - South Highway , As one of the original automobile routes in the state, the Great North-South Highway (known as US Highway 85 after 1926) was rooted in early wagon and stagecoach lines. The area around Greenhorn Creek was long-visited by trappers and travelers, with small communities including Greenhorn and Apache City growing along its course in the mid-to-late 1800's. By 1949, this stretch of the Great North-South Highway was rerouted to the east in this area. When Interstate 25 was constructed in the 1950s and 1960s, it drew most travelers away from the old road. In the early 1960s, the route was conveyed to Pueblo County and was no longer paved. A trip over the 1928 Greenhorn Creek Bridge on the relatively unimproved county road transported passengers back to the era of early automobile travel in Colorado. ,