BOONE COUNTY

Beaver

North of Beaver.
The second-most famous Lincoln Highway bridge in Iowa, built by the Marsh Engineering Company of Des Moines. The bridge was constructed in 1915 when the Lincoln Highway was moved north to this road and out of Beaver. The bridge is still rated at 18 tons, and it is believed to be the only rainbow arch bridge remaining on the Lincoln Highway.

North of Beaver.
As the last of a vanishing breed of rainbow arch bridges, as well as one of the few remaining Marsh Engineering Company projects, the bridge was showing its age in 1995 when this photo of Beaver Creek was taken at dusk on warn July day.

North of Beaver.
Renovation of the bridge in 1999.

North of Beaver.
Presenting the renovated Marsh bridge, a miracle of natural beauty and human engineering, and one of the most beautiful bridges in Iowa.

Beaver.
The little burg of Beaver must have realized its status as a Lincoln Highway community. Despite its tiny population, all of its streets are paved - and not just with asphalt but with concrete. It now sits a short jog north of present U.S. Highway 30, but in its day the Lincoln Highway passed in front of Spark's Garage, obviously a dealer of early Goodyear products.

Beaver.
1912 Sparks Garage under the watchful eye of the Beaver water tower. The clock face, a precision timepiece twice a day, has since disappeared.

"...tough little Beaver, on the Lincoln Highway for only a year, is still hanging in there."

- Gregory Franzwa, The Lincoln Highway: Iowa, The Patrice Press, 1995.