The Bridges of Madison County

Roseman Bridge, featured in the movie and located near Francesca Avenue southwest of Winterset.

Hogback Covered Bridge

October 1, 2010

I think I neglected to say that Winterset is in Madison County....yes, that Madison County.....the Bridges of Madison County Madison County. There were originally 19 covered bridges and six remain. Only one is open to car travel, but the others can be driven to and walked through. One was destroyed by arson in 2002 and the decision was made to reconstruct it using the original plans and as many of the original materials and techniques as could be done. Two have been moved for easier preservation. One was used by the Oprah Show in 1993 for an interview with the author of the book and has steps built alongside it for Oprah to descend from the bridge to the park where the show was taped. These are now known, not surprisingly, as Oprah's Steps.

Artsy view through the arched opening of Hogback Covered Bridge

Bob took several shots of the interiors. They were built using a variety of building styles and materials. This one has original "treenails" still in it, though bolts were added for reinforcment.

Because you can't drive through most of the bridges, it's difficult to get photos of the sides,  and especially hard to get photos of them showing the water below.  We did go to all six, but I've only put in a few photos since they look pretty similar/

One of the moved bridges is in the Winterset City Park, which also has a hedged maze (there are seven decision points in the maze) and a monument to the Red Delicious apple, which was developed in Iowa.