![]() ![]() 53 traffic and would have been replaced long ago, but instead it became part of a driveway to a private farmhouse. The little bridge was not big enough to accommodate the Rt. 53 saved the Hidden Lake historic bridge. The Morton Arboretum already owned the property south of the bridge, so maybe Rt. 53 turned west before crossing the river. 53, leaving only the small portion now known as Bryant Avenue in Glen Ellyn. Looking at old atlas maps, it looks like much of Bryant Road north of Butterfield Road (IL 56) was used for the new Rt. The small roads connecting towns were replaced with highways. With the growing number of cars and trucks in DuPage County and people traveling further, arterial roads were needed. In 1924, Route 53 was planned to connect DuPage County south to north. The road was extended many times north until, in the 1870s, it connected with Bryant Avenue. Wood was also a source of fuel for cooking and heating homes. Locals could buy a timber lot just south of the river in what is now the Morton Arboretum and bring it to the Barney Mill to be cut into boards for building. The road was originally used to haul timber to the Barney Sawmill from about 1837 to 1854. It has been referred to as Barney Mill Road, Stauch Road, Bryant Road and Bryant Avenue. The road the bridge was built on may have had many names. The bridge was assembled and likely installed in the same spot it sits today. From there they were moved south, pulled by horses on a dirt road. The parts of the Hidden Lake bridge were most likely transported by railroad from the King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company in Cleveland, Ohio to Prospect Park, IL (now Glen Ellyn). At one point his company was the largest bridge company in the United States. Zenas King started making iron roofing, bridges, boilers, and prison bars, but by 1871 he narrowed his focus to bridges because he knew there was money to be made by growing transportation needs. Mining in the Great Lakes was growing fast in the 1850s and 60s, providing Cleveland with lots of iron to work with. Its relative light weight and standardized design made it easy to transport all across the country. It was a new type of bridge that was engineered to use less material than stone bridges and last longer than wood bridges. The wrought-iron bowstring pony truss bridge was manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio by Zenas King in his newly formed King Iron Bridge Manufacturing Company. Although few details still exist, the bridge was likely purchased in the 1870s to cross over the East Branch DuPage River. DuPage County was growing, and people wanted better ways to get around. ![]() Roads, canals, and railroads were all growing in the 1870s. This blog is part of a series that shares the history of some DuPage forest preserves, brought to you by members of the Forest Preserve District’s collections committee, which serves as the public steward of DuPage forest preserve history.įrom glaciers to mounds, mammoths and farms, each month we highlight the often-overlooked history of our preserves and provide context to deepen your connection to the land, as well as tell the stories revealed to us through the objects and formations left behind. Everyone was surprised to learn the bridge is 150 years old and most likely still in its original location. One engineer recognized that it had to be older than that because of the cast-iron parts. Most of the people I talked with guessed the bridge was about 40 years old. Hidden Lake is popular with walkers, and a few said they have probably crossed the bridge 100 times. I met families with strollers, people walking their dogs, joggers, a birdwatcher from Utah admiring the swallows, and two men fishing. White Springs.On a breezy May afternoon, I stood on an old bridge that spans the East Branch DuPage River at Hidden Lake Forest Preserve in Downers Grove, talking to people as they crossed the bridge.
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