Bridge Street bridge

Maybe 150 – 200 yards north of Manawa's city center, the Little Wolf River cut through town. Bridge Street crossed over the river on this truss bridge, built in 1902 and replaced in 1948 with a more modern plate girder bridge with a pedestrian sidewalk.

The photographer is standing on the south bank of the river, looking north east. The Nelson-Esche feed mill is visible in the background.

The Little Wolf was dammed just to the east (right) of this picture, its hydraulic power used by the Nelson-Esche mill on the north bank of the river, and the Little Wolf Lumber Company on the south bank. The dam, the feed mill, and the saw mill all stood within a hundred yards of each other near the bridge.

Here's another view from the south bank, this time looking north west. The building with the false front visible in the right background was a store that sold mechanized farming implements. It stood well into the 1980's and could have possibly claimed to be the oldest standing building in Manawa, originally built sometime between 1870-1880 as a school house. It was sold to Louis Ory and David Mather in 1896, who used it as a smithy until 1953, when the firm of Hansen & Jones bought it. I don't know if the building still stands.

The photographer is standing between the bridge and the dam; I remember that this spot was a favorite with local fishermen (In Wisconsin, everybody who fished was referred to as "fishermen." I don't remember thinking this was odd until I heard my wife complimented for being a "good fisherman.")

Here's an excellent view of the unpaved road across the bridge; this snapshot looks as though it belongs with the group of photos dated 1902.

There's a surprising amount of detail here. The Nelson-Esche feed mill is almost in full view to the right; the farm implements store is to the left. In the distant background, visible through the bridge's uprights, is Piotter's store. The building opened for business in 1903 as a general store, and was still being used as a grocery store when I lived in Manwa.

[I originally identified this wrongly as the "Depot Street bridge." There is no such thing. Depot Street doesn't go any further north than the Triangle, so this is the Bridge Street bridge. Sorry about that.]