Greenwood County's 1905 Stone Bridge

Location:  From Eureka on Hwy. US 54, go East 7.7 miles, then North 3.2 miles.  The last 1 mile is dirt, but can be driven by passenger cars in dry weather.

Nearest Town:  Eureka

Fee:  None

All photos copyright H. J. Schuster, 2000.  Please do not use without permission.

The waters of Homer Creek reflect this double arch stone bridge in the edge of the Kansas Flinthills before eventually joining the Verdigris River.  Constructed of native stone in 1905, this old bridge is certainly showing it's age--and a lack of maintaince.  Located on a seldom used road, the bridge is more or less left to the elements of nature:  frost, flood and erosion.   At the top of the left-hand arch, you can see the true strength an arch.  The bridge at that point is down to just a twelve-inch layer of rock, yet it's still able to support itself and the occasional vehicle.

Perhaps in the days of the oil-boom in Greenwood County, this was an important bridge and road.  It must have been to justify the expense and effort of building such a large bridge here.  Today, things are different.  The oil-boom is long gone, leaving only scattered ghost-towns and abandoned oil storage tanks here and there.

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