This picturesque bridge in a beautiful part of Kimble County Texas was part of the old US 290, better known as the Old Spanish Trail, through this part of Texas.
This bridge was most likely built during the 1940s, when the federal highway system was in a state of transition from private alignments and roads to a national standardized transportation network.
When this bridge was built as part of the US 290, highways were seen more as opportunities for local communities to bring tourists in to boost their economies rather than as efficient transportation routes that would bypass cities in favor of the straightest route between two points. That latter idea for the purpose of a road network was gaining ground, and by the 1950s, it was the primary driver of new highway routes and alignments.
From what we could see of the bridge date plaque on this bridge (obscured by a modern guardrail cushion), this bridge appears to date from the early to mid 1940s. The plaque reads as follows:
"TEXAS HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
- . -
FEDERAL WORKS AGENCY
PUBLIC ROADS ADMINISTRATION
- . -
STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION
Brady Gentry, Chairman
Robert Lee Bobbitt, Member
Ruben Williams, Member
D. C. Greer
Highway Engineer
Ernest Boyd
Contractor"
We are dating this bridge from the 1940s based on what we have learned about the Federal Works Agency on Wikipedia: (
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"The Federal Works Agency (FWA) was an independent agency of the federal government of the United States which administered a number of public construction, building maintenance, and public works relief functions and laws from 1939 to 1949. Along with the Federal Security Agency and Federal Loan Agency, it was one of three catch-all agencies of the federal government pursuant to reorganization plans authorized by the Reorganization Act of 1939, the first major, planned reorganization of the executive branch of the government of the United States since 1787.
. . .
On June 30, 1949, Congress passed the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act (63 Stat. 377), which abolished the FWA and transferred its few remaining functions to the newly created General Services Administration."
The US 290 designation in this part of Texas passed into history a long time ago, with the completion of the I-10. Many old Spanish Trail remnants and fragments of renumbered, renamed, and incorporated into the frontage roads to serve the very busy throughout known as the I-10. See: Wikipedia article on I-10 in Texas, (
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"At the junction with I-20, I-10 replaced US 290 eastward to the present day junction of I-10 and US 290 southeast of Junction. This section of US 290 was deleted from the highway system. From this point to near Comfort, I-10 replaced State Highway 27 (SH 27). SH 27 still exists along this stretch, mostly paralleling I-10 to the south. From Comfort southeast to San Antonio, I-10 directly replaced US 87."
In 2016, this 1940s-era bridge is still in use, although it has been redesignated to FM 1674, and serves as the frontage road for the I-10 nearby. We traveled this charming old stretch of thee OST today exploring the ghost town of Copperas (dying when the OST was passing through) and Roosevelt, which in 2016 has a population of 12 people.