For Sale: Redwood County offers up historic bridge for only $1 but buyer will have to move it
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Redwood County has a bridge to sell you, and it’s only $1.
The catch?
Whoever buys it must repair it, move it, and then reinstall it elsewhere, a task that will certainly cost well over a dollar.
Gold Mine Bridge is a steel Parker through-truss bridge. It is 191 feet long, stretching across the Minnesota River, connecting gravel roads and Redwood and Renville counties on either side of it.
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The bridge has stood there for more than 120 years and due to its rare architectural design, it is eligible to be designated in the National Register of Historic Places.
Since being built in 1903, Gold Mine Bridge has held up with minimal maintenance and only minor alterations over the years, according to Redwood County Engineer Nick Klisch, who said it retains good historical integrity.
But in 2021, authorities had to put in place a five ton weight limit on it, meaning vehicles such as ambulances, school buses, tractors and trucks could no longer use it. Then it was closed in May of 2023 after a weakness was found in the framework, making it unusable for all vehicle traffic.
Redwood County officials decided that it would be too costly to repair the bridge. And at less than 16 feet wide, the one lane bridge is impractical.
They are hoping the old Gold Mine Bridge can be used in a park setting, on a bike trail system, or a similar type of setting.
“It could be picked up off of its foundation with a crane,” Klisch said. “It would likely have to be disassembled into smaller pieces and hauled on trucks to its new location and likely reassembled.”
Klisch says there have been no formal offers to buy and move the bridge so far.
“There's a lot of hurdles involved, because there's a lot of costs involved with moving the bridge and rehabilitating it,” said Klisch.
The county has a plan to replace Gold Mine Bridge with a new bridge. Part of the reason they want the old one removed is so it does not cause any issues with the construction of the new bridge.
“If this bridge were to collapse into the river, it would cause quite a few issues with the new bridge,” said Klisch.
Redwood County is accepting letters of interest to purchase the bridge until December 1, 2026.
A mini gold rush
Gold Mine Bridge was named after a gold mine that was built just down the Minnesota River from where the bridge stands.
According to the book “Redwood: The Story of a County,” the area experienced a brief little gold rush, decades after the famous California gold rush ended.
The story starts in June 1894, when businessmen from Minneapolis began buying up land around the Minnesota River in Redwood County, which piqued the interest of local newspaper reporters.
The Redwood Gazette started to report that gold was likely to be found inside quartz deposits near the river, and because the men buying the land refused to be interviewed, it fueled speculation that they were hiding something, and that the land may be rich in the precious metal.
Quickly, in 1894, a mine was constructed and businesses popped up to supply the miners with places to sleep, eat and even dance. On weekends, dancing girls from the Twin Cities were brought down via train to help entertain the men.
A few months later, more machinery was delivered and construction of a $20,000 crushing plant began in order to help speed up the mining process as landowners became confident they would become even richer.
However, some had doubts that the land contained enough gold to justify all the money being invested, even as several other mines opened up and more miners came to haul quartz out of the ground. Ultimately, there was very little gold found, not enough to make anyone rich.
Two University of Minnesota geologists, Horace Winchell and William Appleby, were quoted by the Minneapolis Journal with their take on the situation.
“There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in the line of gold in paying quantities in Redwood County. Investment there is pure folly.”
Mining operations ceased in 1896, only two years after the mini gold rush began.
No one made money from any of the mines near Gold Mine Bridge, except for those hauling curious people to visit them.
