The Spiral Bridge

Dear Byron,

I noticed recently that you are beginning to look at books and even trying to read them. I'm so happy to hear about that. I've loved books all my life. I have owned hundreds of them and still have many on my shelves here at our home.

I also suspect that as you grow up books will be printed less and less on paper. My guess is that most of the books you read will be on some kind of ebook reader like an iPad or Kindle. Its certainly a different world from when I grew up.

Last time I wrote to you, I showed you a photo of our farm. Well, that farm was about ten miles west of a town called Hastings. That town is right on the Mississippi River and has a bridge going over the river. Follow this link to the Little Log House Village, outside of Hastings a mile or so and their replica of the Spiral Bridge. I've been to the Village. It's quite a neat place. They have preserved many things from days gone by, like that old station wagon you see in front of their Spiral Bridge.

There actually was a real Spiral Bridge. It was built near the end of the nineteenth century to accomodate the horse-drawn vehicles of the day. Located where the present city of Hastings stands, it circled up from the bank on the Hastings side to a height sufficient to bring the wagons and carriages safely to the other. When I was a kid we would drive across that bridge to the other side of the river on our way up to St. Paul.

Many have been fascinated by pictures and tales of the old Spiral Bridge. Sad to say, it was torn down in 1951 and replaced with a more modern one. However, the spiral span still appears in the logo on Hastings vehicles and city stationery.

Spiral bridges are a rarity. State and Federal transportation and historic agency officials said they know of no other such bridge in the United States. Hazel Jacobsen Theel, who wrote a booklet about the old bridge, said she knew of only two other spiral bridges in the world, one located in Japan and the other in Germany.

The question of who designed the Hastings Spiral Bridge was debated in local newspapers in the 1940s. Several engineers, elevator owner John Meloy and a Hastings inventor, or their ancestors, all laid claim to the spiral design. All I know, is that it was kind of a neat bridge.

After you've learned to read and are a bit older, I'd like you to read the first novel that I ever wrote. Of all things, its called The Spiral Bridge. By the time you read it I'll have it out in an ebook format—just for you and all the other modern kids. 

Love ya, 

GPa