Eastbound traffic on US 36 in Linn County experienced delays as they shared the roadway with a bridge. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources had contractors move the Locust Creek Covered Bridge Wednesday to Pershing State Park, where it will eventually become a permanent fixture.
The bridge was built about 156 years ago and before World War I, the bridge was once a link over Locust Creek on America’s first transcontinental road, Route 8. Cars gradually replaced horse-drawn wagons and buggies, and in 1930, U.S. Highway 36 replaced Route 8, and Locust Creek Covered Bridge would no longer house a transcontinental road.
The bridge will be the new trailhead for the Pershing State Park’s riparian trail. This new bridge site will span Locust Creek, downstream from the Cambria Iron Bridge.