Bridges

Bridges. . , Local bridges helped tie the Forestville community together. Early Forestville roads crossed the rivers at shallow fords. However, these crossing points were somtimes [sic] impassable due to dangerous flash flooding, thin ice or deep water. People only fifty feet apart were sometimes unable to get together!, Wooden Bridges , In 1856 the first of three bridges was built on this site. William Renslow, Gilbert Bassett, Major Foster, and William Meighen formed the "Forestville Bridge Company." They contracted with Major Foster, who built the first bridge for $272.50. The bridge was 50-feet long and was built of white oak and rock elm in the "King Post" style. This first bridge was washed away in the flood of 1888. The bridge was rebuilt the same year in the same style but frequent flooding and a deteriorating wood structure prompted town officials to look for a more permanent bridge., Steel Bridges , Two steel-truss bridges were installed in Forestville, one here and the other a half-mile upstream. This one was built by the Gillete-Herzog Manufacturing Company of Minneapolis in 1899. This surviving bridge is one of the oldest still standing in the county. Over a century after it was built, the Forestville steel bridge is still in daily use, showing the durability of this type of material., The new steel bridge looking towards Meighen [text missing]., The steel bridge in winter about 1909.