Leon River Bridge

The first wagon bridge built in Bell County was the steel truss bridge over the Leon River at the old military crossing on what is now Waco Road. On April 12, 1871, the Texas state legislature approved “an act to incorporate the Belton Bridge Company” under the control of William A. Miller, Elisha Embree, Silas Baggett, and John T. Flint (of McLennan County). The corporation was tasked with the duty “to build and maintain a good, safe and substantial bridge across the Leon River in Bell county or within one mile of the crossing of said river, known as the Hill crossing, near Belton.” 

There were additional stipulations the bridge company had to fulfill to prevent the twenty-five-year charter from being forfeited. The bridge building had to begin within one year and be completed within two years from the passage of the act. The Belton Bridge Company was required to keep the bridge and its approaches in good repair, to provide constant round-the-clock attendance at the toll gate, and to assume responsibility in the event of injuries or damage to persons or property resulting from unsafe conditions on the bridge. Building new bridges and/or maintaining ferries within three miles of the bridge were prohibited. In October 1871, Governor Edmund J. Davis sent a veto message to the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives asking for reconsideration of the original act of incorporation. He stated, “This act is objectionable in respect that it proposes to close up all natural fords on the Leon River within three miles of the Belton bridge, so as to force travelers and freight to cross said river on that bridge… It seems to me that such provision is an unconstitutional interference with private rights.” The House refused to pass the bill.

The bridge opened for business on March 25, 1872. Tolls were exacted according to the following rates: For each wagon, cart, carriage, or other vehicle drawn by more than two horses or other animals, ten cents per wheel, and two and one-half cents for each animal; when there were two animals, five cents per wheel and two and one-half cents for each animal; when there was one animal, five cents per wheel; for each animal and rider, ten cents; for each horse, animal of the cattle kind, and for each loose horse, mule, jack or jenny, three cents; for each sheep, hog or goat, two cents; for each foot passenger, five cents. If the Police Court of Bell County found the bridge to be unsafe upon inspection, the gates were to be “thrown open” and “for the free crossing of the public” until the bridge company made appropriate repairs.

To replace the previous bridge, a new bridge consisting of one 175-foot truss span with a pony truss span at each end was built by the county in 1907. When the route was designated a state highway in 1917, the Texas Highway Department inherited the bridge. The old bridge presented several problems: it crossed the river at nearly a right angle with sharp curves at each end of the bridge, and it had only a 17-foot roadway with a maximum load capacity of 10 tons. It was built to carry horse and buggy traffic and was considered unsafe for the types of traffic and speeds typical in the 1930s. The THD overhauled the bridge in 1933; however, the measures were insufficient to solve the bridge’s deficiencies.

In 1936 Texas Highway Department engineers began planning for a replacement bridge. The type of design was a 200-foot riveted Parker through truss span. As part of an effort to improve the aesthetics of bridge design, decorative elements were incorporated into the design of the Leon River bridge. The bridge substructure exhibited arched concrete bents and concrete piers with beveled copings. Decorative steel railing flanked a 5-foot wide pedestrian walkway, and the Leon River bridge is one of only three surviving THD truss bridges with this type of railing. Construction of the bridge began on September 12, 1938 and was completed on May 31, 1939 at a cost of $98,000. In October of the same year, a roadside park was built to the northeast of the bridge, but the park no longer exists. With most travelers using I-35 beginning in the 1960s, the bridge’s traffic load was lightened, and it now mainly serves local traffic between Belton and Temple.

The bridge is part of the Historic Bridges of Texas and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Gammel, Hans Peter Mareus Neilsen. The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897, vol. 6, book, 1898; Austin, Texas.

Texas Department of Transportation. Bridge NRHP Eligibility Report. [Austin: the Dept.], 2012.

Tyler, George W. The History of Bell County. San Antonio, Tex.: Naylor Company, 1936.