Dodd's Creek Bridge

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Dodd's Creek Bridge, right here in Bell County. Now, most bridges just sit there, humble and quiet, letting folks cross over without a second thought. But this one, this eighty-seven-foot lenticular truss bridge spanning Dodd's Creek, has got a story worth slowing down for.

It starts, as so many good Texas stories do, somewhere far from Texas. Up in Connecticut, a man named William O. Douglas had an idea.

In 1878, the United States Patent Office handed him the only patent ever issued for a lenticular truss bridge in the entire country. Just one. His and nobody else's.

The design itself is something to picture: a curved top chord and a curved bottom chord, bowing toward each other until the whole structure forms the shape of a lens. Elegant, really, in the way that useful things sometimes are. Most of Douglas's bridges went up in New England and New York state, close to home, close to his Berlin Iron Bridge Company.

And that might have been the end of it for Texas, except for one man: William Payson, a salesman for that very company. Payson came south and he came persistent, and through his efforts Texas ended up with at least a dozen of these truss bridges before the 19th century was out. The Coryell County Commissioners Court took notice.

In 1889, they contracted with the Berlin Iron Bridge Company to build four lenticular truss bridges, the whole package for sixteen thousand five hundred dollars. This bridge, the one you're looking at right now, was one of them. It started its life spanning Cowhouse Creek, then at some point was moved to Dodd's Creek, crossing new water, carrying new traffic, quietly outlasting the era that built it.

By 1990, the Texas Historical Commission and the Texas Department of Transportation went looking to see what survived, and they found eight lenticular truss bridges still standing in Texas. Four were in San Antonio. The other four were on out-of-service roadways, essentially retired, waiting to see what came next.

Together, those eight bridges hold a distinction that turns heads among engineers and historians alike: they are the only examples of this rare bridge type west of the Mississippi River. The Society for Industrial Archeology and the Historic American Engineering Record, a branch of the National Park Service, have both recognized the Texas lenticular bridges for what they are: products of a short-lived but genuinely important chapter in 19th century engineering history. And this particular bridge got one more chapter of its own.

In 1997, it was moved to this site, here in the Salado Historic District, to improve traffic flow, protect pedestrians, and take its rightful place in a community that values what old things can still do. A Connecticut patent, a traveling salesman, a county court in Coryell, and a bridge that crossed two creeks across more than a century. Some things, it turns out, are built to last longer than anyone planned.

What the marker says

(Lenticular Truss Bridge) One of many patented truss designs developed by American inventors and engineers in the mid- to late-19th century, this 87-foot lenticular truss bridge represents an unusual truss type in the United States. The lenticular design features a curved top and bottom chord which forms a lens shape. The patent, issued to William O. Douglas of Connecticut in 1878, was the only one given for a lenticular truss bridge in the United States. Most were constructed in the New England area and in New York state. Through the efforts of William Payson, a salesman for Douglas' Berlin Iron Bridge Company, Texas acquired at least a dozen truss bridges in the late 19th century. The Coryell County Commissioners Court contracted with the Berlin Iron Bridge Company to build four lenticular truss bridges for $16,500 in 1889. This bridge originally was located across Cowhouse Creek and later was moved to Dodd's Creek. In 1990 the Texas Historical Commission and the Texas Department of Transportation identified eight lenticular truss bridges surviving in Texas. Four of the spans were located in San Antonio; the other four were positioned on out-of-service roadways. The only examples of this rare bridge type west of the Mississippi, they are recognized as historically significant engineering structures. The Society for Industrial Archeology and Historic American Engineering Record, a branch of the National Park Service, also have recognized the importance of the Texas lenticular bridges as products of a short-lived but important period of bridge technology in 19th century engineering history. The Dodd's Creek bridge was moved to this site in 1997 to improve the flow of traffic, protect pedestrians and enhance the Salado Historic District. (2000)