Rattlesnake Bridge – NHR

In January 1903 the Cuming County Supervisors awarded an annual bridge construction contract to the
Standard Bridge Company of Omaha. In 1903 the county undertook an ambitious bridge-building program,
ordering sixty new or rebuilt bridges. Among the structures erected that year by Standard Bridge was this pinned
Pratt half-hip pony truss. Located northwest of Bancroft, the bridge carries a gravel surfaced county road over
Rattlesnake Creek in northeastern Cuming County. With annual contracts for eastern Nebraska counties such as
Cuming, Wayne, Thurston, Stanton, Dodge, and Burt, the Standard Bridge Company erected hundreds of
half-hip trusses between 1900 and 1920. Many remain in place today. The Rattlesnake Creek Bridge is
distinguished as the oldest documentable example among these and is listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks.