The Real Bridges of Madison County

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Between 1868 and 1884, Madison County erected nineteen wooden covered bridges. Overtime, all but five of these structures were lost to floods, fires, progress or willful destruction. In 1933, the Madison County Historical Society began campaigning to preserve the county's ten surviving covered bridges, but they faced strong opposition from progress-minded citizens and local farmers, who desired modern open spans. Controversy continued for nearly two decades, and during that time, several more covered bridges were lost.

In 1950, the Madison County Board of Supervisors finally agreed to maintain the county's seven surviving covered bridges as tourist attractions. One by one, the bridges were moved or bypassed over the next three decades, but the county upheld its commitment to preserve them. In 1970, the county held the first annual Madison County Covered Bridge Festival, a time-honored event that now draws thousands of visitors each year. Tourism increased dramatically in the 1990s following the publication and subsequent movie adaptation of Robert James Waller's novel, The Bridges of Madison County.

Unfortunately, the covered bridges are still threatened by vandalism and arson. McBride Bridge was burned in 1983, Cedar Bridge was burned in 2002 (and rebuilt in 2004), and there were subsequent arson attempts on Hogback and Roseman bridges. In cooperation with the Coalition for Advanced Wood Structures (USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory and Iowa State University Bridge Engineering Center), Madison County is currently testing a remote monitoring system to identify and mitigate potentially destructive activities at covered bridges. The ultimate goal is to develop tools for long-term preservation of historic timber bridges across the country. Researched and written by Lola Bennett, Summer 2002 - NPS

Works

Composition	Kind	Creator	AsNotedIn
Composition	Kind	Creator	AsNotedIn
The Bridges of Madison County (book)	Book	Robert James Waller
The Bridges of Madison County (film)	Film	Clint Eastwood

Places

Place	Locale	Type	AsNotedIn
McBride Covered Bridge	Winterset		NRHP
Holliwell Covered Bridge	Winterset		NRHP
Cedar Covered Bridge	Winterset
Roseman Covered Bridge	Winterset		NRHP
Cutler-Donahoe Covered Bridge	Winterset		NRHP
Imes Covered Bridge	St Charles		NRHP
Hogback Covered Bridge	Winterset		NRHP