Holliwell Bridge

I drove down the winding road following the sign to Holliwell Bridge. If you're familiar with Iowa at all, then you know that when the road winds, you're headed towards moving water. Otherwise the roads are laid out straight as sticks...north/south and east/west...framing fields of corn and soybeans. The newer gravel road bypasses Holliwell Bridge. Like the other remaining covered bridges in Madison County, this one is closed now to all but foot traffic. The concrete and steel bridge that I took this picture from has none of the charm of the restored 1880 bridge that still spans the Middle River. ( I think the early settlers must have run out of interesting names by the time they arrived in Madison County!) The river is high for this time of year; it's been one of the wettest summers on record with recurrent flooding everywhere in the state.

Holliwell Bridge was one of several in the county built by Benton Jones. It is the longest of the covered bridges and measures 110 feet at the roof line. Adding in the approaches to the bridge brings its total span to 170 feet. This bridge was renovated in 1995 at a cost of $225,000. It appears in the movie The Bridges of Madison County.

The long walk through the bridge was shady and cool on this warm summer morning. Names, dates and messages are inscribed on the wall lattice in this bridge just like the others. It seems an empty, flat surface is just too tempting for most people to ignore. Somehow, though, the record of their presence adds to the patina of history that polishes these reminders of early settlers and more primitive times.