Identification Historic Name Bridge L8849 Current Name Bridge L8849 Field # Address Municipal Road 99 over the Chippewa River City/Twp Montevideo County Chippewa Legal Desc. Twp 117N Range 40W Sec 07 QQ SWSE USGS Quad Montevideo SHPO Inventory Number Review and Compliance Number Form (New or Updated) Updated Description Linear Feature? No HPC Status Resource Type Structure Architect/Engineer M.E. Chamberlin Style Rustic UTM Zone 15 Datum 27 Construction Date 1938 Easting 934643 Northing 16342249 Property ID (PIN) Original Use Transportation Current Use Transportation Description Bridge L8849, built in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), carries Municipal Road 99 over the Chippewa River at the east entrance of Lagoon Park in. Lagoon Park is a small park bordered to the north and west by the Chippewa River, with a single road that loops around the park. The County Highway 29 overpass is located directly southeast of the bridge, and a residential area is located east of the park. Bridge L8849 is a reinforced-concrete slab span clad in uncoursed, split-faced granite. The bridge is 19 feet long with a main span length of 15 feet. The bridge deck is 26 feet wide, and consists of a 20-foot roadway and a sidewalk on the southeast side of the bridge deck. A stepped masonry railing runs along both approaches and the main span. The approach parapets are curved slightly inward while the deck parapet is curved slightly upward to exaggerate the appearance of a masonry arch bridge. A stringcourse runs along the base of the parapet railings in line with the voussior stones along the concrete slab edge. The vertical face of the concrete slab is articulated by squared voussoirs with an enlarged keystone. Although the concrete slab is slightly arched, it appears to have greater curvature because of the undulating line of its railing walls and the fillets incorporated into the ends of the slab at the abutments. The main span of the bridge is framed by pilasters that rise from the abutments and continue as posts above the roadway. The railings along the approaches project above slightly flared masonry wingwalls. Rock riprap lines the wingwalls. Municipal Road 99 is gravel and the concrete deck slab of the bridge is overlaid with asphalt. Four drainage holes pierce the deck. A utility pipe extends along the northwest elevation of the bridge, and minor repairs have been made to the masonry and mortar on all bridge faces.
EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS Historical Context Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota, 1900-1945; Federal Relief Construction in Minnesota, 1933-1941 Historical Narrative Bridge L8849 is one of two nearly identical Chippewa River crossings that were built by the WPA in 1938 as part of an extensive improvement of Lagoon Park in Montevideo. The other bridge in the park is Bridge L8850. Initiated in 1935 and completed in 1938, the WPA Lagoon Park Improvement Project (WPA Project Number 461) included the construction of a swimming pool, picnic grounds, buffalo barn, bath house, dock, bridges, and two log cabins. The project was one of several WPA and Public Works Administration (PWA) projects in Montevideo during the 1930s. In addition to the construction of Bridges L8849 and L8850 in 1938, other Federal Relief projects included the construction of a sewage disposal plant in 1934, a water main extension in 1935-1936, a curbing project in 1936, and a retaining wall and stairway in 1938. Montevideo City Engineer M.E. Chamberlin designed the general plan for the two bridges. The Lagoon Park project finished that year, and according to the Montevideo American (April 1, 1938), the park project served the entire population and has given employment to more men than any other project. Bridges L8849 and L8850 were highlighted in a publication on the WPA's achievements in Minnesota. (Note: As of June 2014, only two buildings, the bridges, and retaining walls are extant in the park. It is unclear if the buildings are of historic age. Other WPA-constructed resources are no longer extant.) Lagoon Park structures constructed under WPA Project Number 461 were built using a combination of log and stone, materials typical of WPA construction. WPA bridges in Minnesota were most often designed in one of two contemporary architectural trends: a rustic, traditional style, or a WPA/government Deco Moderne style. The bridges in Lagoon Park were built in the rustic style, which often utilized a masonry veneer in keeping with the New Deal's agenda of promoting highway beautification, local craft skills, and labor-intensive public works projects. The bridge was constructed during a period when work relief projects operated by the WPA provided employment for underemployed workers and improved infrastructure throughout Minnesota. During the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945), a number of federal programs, known collectively as the New Deal, were created to alleviate unemployment and stimulate private business. In 1935 the WPA was established to operate a national program of small projects to achieve these objectives. On July 1, 1939, the WPA was incorporated into the Federal Works Agency and was renamed the Work Projects Administration. The WPA was active in Minnesota based on documentation in the Final Report on the WPA Program between 1935 and 1943. The number of people employed on WPA projects in Minnesota was 68,840 in September 1938 and remained high just two years later in March 1940 at 49,752. Nearly $6 million of WPA funds had been spent on projects in Minnesota by June 1943. Those expenditures financed a total of 1,458 new and rehabilitated bridges and viaducts throughout the state. Significance Bridge L8849 was evaluated under the Federal Relief Construction in Minnesota, 1933-1941 Multiple Property Document (Federal Relief Construction MPD) for Criterion A for its association with the WPA. The Federal Relief Construction MPD identifies Transportation Systems as a property type. The property type is further divided into the following structural types : highway, street, and sidewalk projects and airport facility projects. While bridges are not specifically mentioned as a structural type, bridges are often constructed as part of highway or street projects and, for the purpose of this evaluation, are
reviewed as part of the highway, street, and sidewalk project structural type. According to the registration requirements, the Transportation System is eligible under Criterion A if it provides an important change in the existing transportation pattern such as a newly developed farm-to-market road, a highway incorporating the principles of landscape design into the construction process, or if it accessed the resort areas of the state or a new airport. Research did not reveal that Bridge L8849 was constructed as part of a larger highway or street development program, improved the state or city s existing transportation pattern, or accessed the state s resort areas or a new airport. The bridge is eligible under the Federal Relief Construction MPD as a contributing resource within Lagoon Park. The WPAconstructed park in Montevideo is specifically mentioned in the Registration Requirements of the Federal Relief Construction MPD as a particularly well-developed park facility built under Federal Relief programs in Minnesota. At the time of its construction the park included a recreation building with full log construction, a bathhouse and shelter building, both built with a combination of log and stone, and two stone vehicular bridges. The Lagoon Park buildings and bridges (CP-MON-118) were determined eligible for National Register listing in 2009 through a Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) review. However, a number of resources within the park appear to no longer exist, and re-evaluation of the park and contributing resources for National Register eligibility is recommended. Such an evaluation is beyond the scope of the current project. Bridge L8849 is significant for its architectural design within the Multiple Property Documentation Form of "Reinforced- Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota, 1900-1945" (Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges MPDF). In Registration Requirement 5, the context states that a concrete bridge may be eligible under Criterion C if it displays notable aesthetics. Bridge L8849 displays aesthetic value in its use of native stone for both the bridge veneer and stepped parapet. These details reflect the Rustic style employed by the National Park Service and utilized nationwide as a design aesthetic for bridge construction during the Great Depression. Therefore, Bridge L8849 fulfills this requirement. Additionally, Bridge L8849 is significant for its association with work relief efforts by the WPA within the historic context of the Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges MPDF. Registration Requirement 7 states that a concrete bridge can be eligible if it is documented as being constructed through a New Deal agency and retains architectural merit and integrity as outlined in Registration Requirement 5. The bridge was highlighted in a WPA publication on the agency s achievements in Minnesota and as being part of the larger WPA-constructed Lagoon Park (1935-1938) in Montevideo. Although the bridge was designed by Montevideo City Engineer M.E. Chamberlin, the bridge was constructed using WPA labor. As a result, the bridge possesses a direct association to this important Federal Relief program that provided jobs in communities throughout Minnesota, including in the city of Montevideo, during the mid-1930s and early 1940s. As indicated above, Bridge L8849 also exhibits notable aesthetics in the rustic architectural style. Therefore, the bridge fulfills Registration Requirement 7. The bridge has a period of significance of 1938, which corresponds to the year it was built. Integrity Bridge L8849 retains a high degree of integrity. The bridge remains in its original location and continues to carry Municipal Road 99 over the Chippewa River in Lagoon Park in Montevideo, Minnesota. Therefore, it retains integrity of location and feeling. Its setting within the park and association with transportation, as it continues to carry vehicular traffic, are also retained. To meet the requirements of the Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges MPDF the bridge must retain its significant elements in the superstructure. Research did not reveal any substantial alterations since the bridge s construction in 1938. At an unknown time a utility pipe was attached to the northwest corner of the east elevation of the bridge, minor repairs to the masonry and mortar were undertaken, and the deck had an asphalt overlay. These modifications do not adversely affect the integrity of the superstructure or aesthetic features of the bridge. As such, the bridge retains integrity of materials, design, and workmanship.
Recommendation Bridge L8849 is significant under National Register Criterion C in the area of Engineering for its notable Rustic style and association with a Federal Relief program within the Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges MPDF. It meets Registration Requirement 5 as a bridge that displays notable aesthetics. It also meets Registration Requirement 7 as a documented WPAconstructed bridge that retains its architectural merit and integrity. Within the historic context of the Federal Relief Construction MPD, Bridge L8849 does not have significance as a Transportation System since it does not meet the Registration Requirements for the property type. It is a contributing resource in the National Register-eligible Lagoon Park, which is significant under the Federal Relief Construction MPD s Registration Requirements as a Social and Recreational Facilities property type. The bridge retains all aspects of integrity despite the minor addition of a utility pipe on one elevation. While the bridge is recommended individually not eligible under Criterion A, it is part of a larger, eligible historic district that may require re-evaluation. Bridge L8849 is recommended individually eligible for the National Register under Criterion C: Engineering in the area of high artistic value. The period of significance is 1938, which corresponds with the year the bridge was built. Sources Anderson, Rolf T. Federal Relief Construction in Minnesota, 1933-1941. National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form, Sec. E, 48-67. Available at the State Historic Preservation Office, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn. Bridge L8849 electronic record in the Minnesota Department of Transportation Bridge Database. Bridge L8849 File. Available at the Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul, Minn. Chamberlin, ME. Plans for Park Bridge, Montevideo, W.P.A. Project 461. 1936. Available at Rodeberg and Associates, Inc., Montevideo, Minn. Field inspection by Jeffrey A. Hess, 23 July 1996. Field Inspection by LHB and Mead & Hunt, Inc., 12 May 2014. Montevideo American articles from 1938: "WPA Project Includes Civic Improvements" (25 March), "Review Work Relief Projects" (1 April), "WPA Benefits Are Reviewed" (13 May). Montevideo City Council. Proceedings. 21 February 1938. National Register of Historic Places. Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota. National Register #434060. United States Federal Works Agency. Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43. Washington, D.C.: Federal Works Agency, 1947. Available online at Library of Congress in electronic format at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/gdc/scd0001/2008/20080212001fi/20080212001fi.pdf. Works Progress Administration of Minnesota. WPA Accomplishments: Minnesota 1935-39. St. Paul: Works Progress Administration, 1939.
Consultant s Recommendation of Eligibility Eligible Individual; Contributing to Eligible Historic District Prepared By Mead & Hunt, Inc. Date Surveyed 5/12/14
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