"Rusty and riveted in glory" Bryant Station, TX by Jeanne Williams.Temple Daily Telegram:

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Rusty and riveted in glory

by Jeanne Williams

Published: September 7, 2009

A bridge that once served stagecoach traffic, the first automobiles and carried

motorists across the Little River up until 2002 turns 100 this year.

BRYANT STATION - It's likely that the debut in 1909 of a sturdy iron truss bridge

spanning the 40-foot deep, watery gorge of the Little River was cause for celebration.

The fact that this public transportation relic this year has reached the century mark -

retired, but still standing tall in its outback, wetland terrain - has produced no

fanfare in Milam County. The landmark bridge stands grandly in rusty and riveted glory

as a pedestrian walkway while its steel and concrete replacement opened in 2002 works

to transport cars, trucks, tractors and ATVs across the river.

"The old bridge is historically significant because it was constructed by C.Q. Horton

for the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company of Chicago in 1909 and is the last Camelback

pin-connected truss bridge surviving in Texas," Bob Colwell, public information officer

for the Texas Department of Transportation's Bryan District, said. "Because of its

rarity and unusual features, the Bryant Station Bridge was determined eligible for

listing on the National Register of Historic Places on its engineering merits."

The bridge is not among National Register sites in Milam County, including the

courthouse, jailhouse, Magnolia House and sites of the San Xavier Missions.

TxDOT constructed the new $600,000 Bryant Station Bridge in 2002 to bypass the existing

historically significant bridge, Colwell said. The old and new bridges always belonged

to the county, except during actual construction. The agreement between TxDOT and Milam

County gave the state the right to work on county right-of-way only for the duration of

the project, he said.

Milam County Precinct 1 Commissioner George Tomek said the old bridge "looks like it's

in good shape. There are boards on the decking that need replacing, but as far as the

metal structure itself, it's in good shape. I looked underneath, and to have that much

age, whoever constructed it did an excellent job."

The old Bryant Station Bridge is a popular trail for residents in the area, Tomek said,

naming off bridge neighbors who take walks night and day on the weathered board

decking.

Geri Burnett, Milam County Historical Commission co-chairman, said the organization has

done nothing to preserve the bridge as an antique artifact but the topic will be

brought up at a future historical commission meeting.

The Sugar Loaf Bridge near Gause was restored as an example of bridge architecture from

by-gone days in a grant-funded project because iron truss bridges still standing are

rare in Texas.

"We are interested in preserving history and this is something we would be interested

in," Mrs. Burnett said.

Also rare are news articles and stories about the Bryant Station Bridge, said Charles

King, Milam County Historical Museum Director in Cameron.

Meanwhile, Kinder and Mary Len Chambers, who operate a bamboo farm near the Bryant

Station Bridge, are proceeding with plans to "adopt" the bridge and have it moved to

cover a creek on the road to the Bryant Station Cemetery. Plans to establish a cemetery

association to begin fund-raising to pay for moving the bridge have advanced to hiring

an attorney, Mrs. Chambers said.

The couple, which met with the commissioners' court last year, fears the bridge

eventually would tumble into the river because of erosion or lack of maintenance and

hope the association could buy the structure and have it lifted by crane to the

cemetery road.

Bryant Station was established on the Little River 12 miles west of Cameron in

northwestern Milam County by Benjamin F. Bryant in 1840 as a fort to protect settlers

from Indians, the Handbook of Texas online stated. Bryant, named for a Battle of San

Jacinto veteran appointed by Texas President Sam Houston as an Indian agent in Milam

County, originated as an Indian trading post, and blossomed into a pioneer village of

260 people.

"The village that grew up around the fort thrived because of its location on the

Marlin-to-Austin stage line and gradually became a commercial center for the region,"

the Handbook entry stated.

The post office at Bryant Station was established and discontinued several times

between 1848 and 1876; it was known as the Blackland post office from 1874 to 1876.

When the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway was built through the area in 1881, it

bypassed Bryant Station by three miles, the Handbook stated.

"Bryant Station faded, and Buckholts became the new social and commercial center," the

article stated.

A historical marker was erected at the Bryant Station site in 1936. By the 1940s two

cemeteries and a few scattered houses were all that marked the community on county

highway maps. The Bryant Station School was consolidated with the Buckholts district in

1941.