Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Known locally as the Lake City Bridge, this concrete Marsh arch bridge spans the North Raccoon River in the southwestern corner of Calhoun County. Consisting of three 80-foot concrete spans supported by a concrete substructure, the bridge's overall length is 271 feet. The bridge dates from 1913, when the Calhoun County Board of Supervisors decided to replace the existing Zane Bridge, a pinned Pratt through truss built in 1892 by the King Bridge Company. The supervisors requested a design for a replacement structure from the state highway commission, which in January 1914 completed the drawings for a three-span pony truss bridge on concrete piers and abutments. At this time, the county also commissioned Des Moines engineer James Marsh to design a three-span concrete arch for the crossing. Marsh's plans featured the through arch design that he had developed two years earlier, with his trademark slotted guardrails and paneled concrete bulkheads. After Marsh's design was approved by the state highway commission in March 1914, competitive bids were solicited on both designs. In April a contract was awarded to the Iowa Bridge Company to build the concrete arch version for the Lake City Bridge for $10,970--some $2000.00 below the amount estimated by the county engineer. IBCo began work on the substructure soon thereafter, eventually shipping in five carloads of cement and three carloads of steel and using some 1000 cubic yards of gravel obtained from a nearby riverbank, according to local sources. The Lake City Bridge was the third of Marsh's namesake rainbow arch bridges built in Iowa. As he would for other bridges in the state, Marsh offered his design to Calhoun County as an alternative to the standard engineering of the state highway commission. It would also serve as a demonstration of his arch in a multiple-span configuration. "This bridge is being made as a sample," the Lake City Graphic reported in 1914. At the time of its completion later that year, Marsh boasted that it was "the largest bridge of its type in the United States." The Lake City Bridge is historically significant on a local basis as an important crossing of the North Raccoon River in southwest Calhoun County. In a broader scope, it is technologically significant as a formative exercise in the career of one of Iowa's most distinguished engineers, James B. Marsh. The Lake City Rainbow Arch Bridge is distinguished among these by its early construction, its multiplicity of spans and its formative role in the development of this indigenous structural type abandoned in 1985; remain in a county

Wooden Bridge I found driving around in Iowa.

For a long time, this 185' high, quarter mile long span was the highest railroad trestle in the world. It's named after Kate Shelley, a 17-year-old girl who on July 6, 1881 crawled across the wooden original during a storm to warn an approaching passenger train that another trestle downtrack had been washed out. She crawled the span on hands and knees with only lightning for illumination. Once across, she ran a half-mile to the Moingona depot to sound the alarm.The railroad built a new steel bridge in 1900, and named it after her. This is that Bridge. Original steel on one side and new concrete/steel on the other side.

For a long time, this 185' high, quarter mile long span was the highest railroad trestle in the world. It's named after Kate Shelley, a 17-year-old girl who on July 6, 1881 crawled across the wooden original during a storm to warn an approaching passenger train that another trestle downtrack had been washed out. She crawled the span on hands and knees with only lightning for illumination. Once across, she ran a half-mile to the Moingona depot to sound the alarm.The railroad built a new steel bridge in 1900, and named it after her. This is that Bridge. Original steel on one side and new concrete/steel on the other side.

For a long time, this 185' high, quarter mile long span was the highest railroad trestle in the world. It's named after Kate Shelley, a 17-year-old girl who on July 6, 1881 crawled across the wooden original during a storm to warn an approaching passenger train that another trestle downtrack had been washed out. She crawled the span on hands and knees with only lightning for illumination. Once across, she ran a half-mile to the Moingona depot to sound the alarm.The railroad built a new steel bridge in 1900, and named it after her. This is that Bridge. Original steel on one side and new concrete/steel on the other side.

For a long time, this 185' high, quarter mile long span was the highest railroad trestle in the world. It's named after Kate Shelley, a 17-year-old girl who on July 6, 1881 crawled across the wooden original during a storm to warn an approaching passenger train that another trestle downtrack had been washed out. She crawled the span on hands and knees with only lightning for illumination. Once across, she ran a half-mile to the Moingona depot to sound the alarm.The railroad built a new steel bridge in 1900, and named it after her. This is that Bridge. Original steel on one side and new concrete/steel on the other side.

For a long time, this 185' high, quarter mile long span was the highest railroad trestle in the world. It's named after Kate Shelley, a 17-year-old girl who on July 6, 1881 crawled across the wooden original during a storm to warn an approaching passenger train that another trestle downtrack had been washed out. She crawled the span on hands and knees with only lightning for illumination. Once across, she ran a half-mile to the Moingona depot to sound the alarm.The railroad built a new steel bridge in 1900, and named it after her. This is that Bridge. Original steel on one side and new concrete/steel on the other side.

For a long time, this 185' high, quarter mile long span was the highest railroad trestle in the world. It's named after Kate Shelley, a 17-year-old girl who on July 6, 1881 crawled across the wooden original during a storm to warn an approaching passenger train that another trestle downtrack had been washed out. She crawled the span on hands and knees with only lightning for illumination. Once across, she ran a half-mile to the Moingona depot to sound the alarm.The railroad built a new steel bridge in 1900, and named it after her. This is that Bridge. Original steel on one side and new concrete/steel on the other side.

For a long time, this 185' high, quarter mile long span was the highest railroad trestle in the world. It's named after Kate Shelley, a 17-year-old girl who on July 6, 1881 crawled across the wooden original during a storm to warn an approaching passenger train that another trestle downtrack had been washed out. She crawled the span on hands and knees with only lightning for illumination. Once across, she ran a half-mile to the Moingona depot to sound the alarm.The railroad built a new steel bridge in 1900, and named it after her. This is that Bridge. Original steel on one side and new concrete/steel on the other side.

For a long time, this 185' high, quarter mile long span was the highest railroad trestle in the world. It's named after Kate Shelley, a 17-year-old girl who on July 6, 1881 crawled across the wooden original during a storm to warn an approaching passenger train that another trestle downtrack had been washed out. She crawled the span on hands and knees with only lightning for illumination. Once across, she ran a half-mile to the Moingona depot to sound the alarm.The railroad built a new steel bridge in 1900, and named it after her. This is that Bridge. Original steel on one side and new concrete/steel on the other side.

This bridge is a Pinned Pennsylvania through truss. Its name is Wagon bridge or Bluff bridge. It was built in 1910.

This bridge is a Pinned Pennsylvania through truss. Its name is Wagon bridge or Bluff bridge. It was built in 1910.

This bridge is a Pinned Pennsylvania through truss. Its name is Wagon bridge or Bluff bridge. It was built in 1910.

Sandstone cliffs and dense woodlands make Ledges State Park one of Iowa’s signature parks. The wildlife and plant communities are interwoven with the human history of Ledges. Humans have appreciated this unique area for thousands of years. Archeological evidence found within the park dates to around 4,000 years ago. At the time of European settlement, the Ledges area was inhabited by the Sauk, Fox (now the Mesqwakie) and Sioux. Native American mounds in the vicinity contain artifacts acting as silent reminders of the area's past inhabitants. The beauty of the canyons and bluffs of Ledges very quickly became a major attraction to the growing local communities. Ledges was proposed as a state park as early as 1914. The first park custodian, Carl Fritz Henning, was appointed in 1921. In 1924, the Ledges officially became one of Iowa's first state parks. Park facilities constructed of native timber and field stone by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930's are still standing today. These examples of fine craftsmanship include an arch stone bridge, shelter in Oak Woods, stone trail steps and the stone shelter in lower Ledges.

Sandstone cliffs and dense woodlands make Ledges State Park one of Iowa’s signature parks. The wildlife and plant communities are interwoven with the human history of Ledges. Humans have appreciated this unique area for thousands of years. Archeological evidence found within the park dates to around 4,000 years ago. At the time of European settlement, the Ledges area was inhabited by the Sauk, Fox (now the Mesqwakie) and Sioux. Native American mounds in the vicinity contain artifacts acting as silent reminders of the area's past inhabitants. The beauty of the canyons and bluffs of Ledges very quickly became a major attraction to the growing local communities. Ledges was proposed as a state park as early as 1914. The first park custodian, Carl Fritz Henning, was appointed in 1921. In 1924, the Ledges officially became one of Iowa's first state parks. Park facilities constructed of native timber and field stone by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930's are still standing today. These examples of fine craftsmanship include an arch stone bridge, shelter in Oak Woods, stone trail steps and the stone shelter in lower Ledges.