Township officials hope designation will aid efforts to preserve bridge
By Tom Thelen
Lansing State Journal
DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Tucked away off of Island Highway west of Elsie is a site where some of the area's first settlers built a saw mill 170 years ago and sold it two decades later to men who would operate it as a grist mill.
The remnants of its foundation can still be found there, as well as a centuries-old dam that helped power the mill's early operation. Nearby is a rare metal truss bridge dating back to start of the 20th century.
The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places last month, the Lansing State Journal reported. Duplain Township owns the site and maintains it as a park. Township officials and members of the community are hopeful that the historic designation will aid efforts to preserve the bridge.
"The designation will allow the township to apply for grants to help restore the bridge. Our top priority is making the bridge safe and open it for pedestrian use," said Chuck Klarich, Duplain Township trustee.
Klarich said earning the historic designation was a team effort.
"If not for all of the support from the people in the village and the township, the state historic office in Lansing, we would not have gotten this designation," he said.
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The main feature of the site is a 160-foot-long bridge that spans the Maple River. The bridge was constructed in 1901 by Detroit Bridge & Iron Works at a cost of $2,590. It is the last known surviving metal truss highway bridge in Michigan made by that company. It is also one of only three remaining Parker through truss highway bridges in the state.
That history makes the bridge worthy of preservation, said Brian Valentine, president of the Elsie Bridge Preservation Committee.
"What makes this bridge unique is that it is the oldest and largest of the three Parker through truss bridges in Michigan," said Valentine. "Also, the company that built this bridge did not build many in Michigan. Most of the bridges that they built were in Ohio and Indiana."
The bridge carried traffic over the Maple River as a part of Upton Road. It was nearly lost in the spring of 1904 when ice built up at the bridge, causing it to bend and rise.
"The metal is bent in on the west side of the bridge from the ice building up against it. The residents at that time used dynamite to break up the ice because it was so bad and they did not want to lose the bridge," said Valentine.
The bridge was the main route over the river until 1966 when a new bridge opened along Island Road, just west of the grist mill site. Upton Road was later rerouted along the north and west sides of the Maple River to direct traffic to the new bridge.
Among the bridge's admirers is Vern Mesler, a welding instructor at Lansing Community College. Mesler conducts seminars on restoring historic iron and steel, and has helped preserve other historic bridges.
"Other than the deck issue the bridge is in excellent shape. It is in better shape than some of the other bridges that I have had to work with. And it is in its original location. I think it would be a popular tourist attraction," said Mesler.
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The deck is perhaps the most historic - and most troublesome - feature of the bridge. It consists of a layer of 4-inch thick wood planks laid crosswise over steel stringers. Above the beams is a layer of 3-inch thick wood paving blocks, believed to be soaked in creosote with a layer of dark-colored material on top of and between these blocks.
The top layer is a half-inch thick layer of asphalt. However, the asphalt has eroded away in places and the wood blocks and planks can be seen in some areas.
Robert Christensen of the State Historic Preservation Office said using wood planks and blocks as deck material was usually done in urban areas.
"It was fairly popular in urban areas in the 19th century until the early 20th century until truck traffic put an end to that method. It was particularly popular in the Midwest because the area had a lot of wood."
Christensen said the Elsie bridge is one of the last remaining bridges with wood blocks and planks for the deck.
"I have not come across any other example of this anywhere in the state," Christensen said. "There is a fair amount of it left on this bridge. My hope is that if the bridge is restored that there is enough of this method kept to show that it's there."
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The site also includes a 150-foot long dam, which was built in 1912. The dam is made of rocks and dirt and capped with concrete. It replaced a wood crib dam constructed in 1865 when the grist mill was built.
Remnants of a fieldstone retaining wall are located on the south shore of the Maple River, as well as portions of the grist mill's concrete foundation.
Records maintained by the Elsie Historical Society indicate that a sawmill was first constructed on the site by Robert E. Craven and his brothers in 1845, approximately 10 years after the first settlers arrived. This mill remained in operation until 1865 when the property was sold to the Kellogg Bros. and Johnson, who built a flour and grist mill as well as the wood crib dam.
The grist mill changed owners several times over its first 75 years. In 1940, the mill was purchased by Glenn S. Wilcox, who operated the mill as a feed grinding and farm products business. The mill closed in 1950 when Wilcox passed away.
In 1952, Merle H. Green and Earl H. Brown purchased the mill and changed it to a farmers elevator, housing feed, grain and beans for area farmers. That business continued until the mill was destroyed by fire in 1969. The site has not been used since.
The road that crossed the bridge was abandoned by Clinton County in 1972. The Elsie Lions Club made that request so that the area could be used as a park.
The group leading the preservation efforts hopes that the historic designation will raise awareness of the site.
"We want to make this a place where people will want to visit," said Klarich.
Published: Tue, Aug 18, 2015
