The Minnesota and International Railway Trestle at Blackduck in

Beltrami County, Minnesota Beltrami County ( ) is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,228. Its county seat is Bemidji. The county's name comes from Italian adventurer Giacomo Beltrami from Bergamo, ...

was the longest timber

trestle ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Laborato ...

in the state. It was built in 1901 and 1902 by the

Minnesota and International Railway The Minnesota and International Railway was a subsidiary of the Northern Pacific Railway , a railway that operated in the western United States along the Canada–United States border. In 1970, the Northern Pacific merged with other lines to for ...

, a subsidiary of the

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by 38th United States Congress, Congress in 1864 and given ...

, on a line between Koochiching (now

International Falls International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census. International Falls is located on the Rainy River directly acro ...

) and

Bemidji, Minnesota Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 census. According to 2021 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 15,279, making it ...

, where it met a branch line of the parent railroad running north from Brainerd. The bridge carried the railroad over Coburn Creek and a difficult marsh in Blackduck and was noted for its considerable length and intact substructure when it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

2014. The bridge was a low structure long. After the railroad was abandoned the trestle became part of the

Blue Ox Trail Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ob ...

, a

recreational trail Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by Motor vehicle, motorists are also cycling infrastructu ...

used by hikers and snowmobilers. More than one-third of it was burned by

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

in April 2015. Efforts have been made to raise funds to rebuild the destroyed portion of the bridge.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Bridges completed in 1901 Buildings and structures in Beltrami County, Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Beltrami County, Minnesota Transportation in Beltrami County, Minnesota Railroad bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Trestle bridges in the United States Wooden bridges in the United States Rail trail bridges in the United States Arson in Minnesota 1901 establishments in Minnesota Northern Pacific Railway BNSF Railway bridges

See also

References