Court Avenue Bridge, the historic structure under your feet in downtown Des Moines, became a contributing property in the Civic Center Historic District in 1988 and was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 15, 1998 as part of the Highway Bridges of Iowa MPS. The story beneath your feet reaches back to the first bridge here, a toll bridge built from 1857 to 1858 under the direction of architect Uriah Burr White — the first permanent bridge over the Des Moines River in the city. That original bridge had four spans with double trusses and double arches, and even legislators were given passes to use it on their way to the capitol.
In 1870 it was replaced by a Post truss bridge that lasted until at least 1898. The current span is believed to be the replacement built from 1917 to 1918. This Court Avenue Bridge is the third of the six bridges now in the Civic Center district; nearby, the Walnut Street Bridge was built in 1911 and the Locust Street Bridge in 1907, with both earlier bridges later reconstructed in the 1960s.
Notice the stone and steel underfoot, and the Walnut and Locust Street bridges nearby shaping this civic heart.