History – Page 2 – Stone Arch Bridges

Cowley’s Grouse Creek Stone Arch Bridges Part 3: The Three Bridges of Silverdale

The three bridges of Silverdale, Cowley County, Kansas, were once stone arch bridges important to the community, and carried the road to Oklahoma.

Cowley County, Kansas built numerous stone arch bridges over Grouse Creek, which were particularly suited to and popular in the area.

Cowley County, Kansas several daring-span stone arch bridges over the Grouse Creek which set records for the entire state.

Beginning in the late 1800s, stone arch culverts and their construction became popular with the people and townships of Butler County, Kansas.

The second phase of the state of Kansas’s stone arch bridge era was marked by a slow but steady trend to concrete until the WPA days.

Using the state’s abundant native stone, Kansas built many stone arch bridges as an enduring and affordable means of bridging the streams.

At the end of the unparalleled stone arch bridge and culvert campaign of Butler County, Kansas, hundreds of such structures had been built.

The success of Butler County, Kansas in building stone arch bridges influenced other counties across the state as well as builders like Walter Sharp.

After a persistent and unified push by the local newspapers, Butler County began to build stone arch bridges and culverts.

To create jobs in the Great Depression, the WPA erected numerous well-built stone arch bridges which have a unique style and history of their own.