Clements Stone Arch Bridge - Travels with Ruby

Clements Stone Arch Bridge

Traveling south on US 50 to photograph one of Kansas’ few remaining round barns I came across a sign for “Clements Stone Arch Bridge”. Of course I had to check this out and turned onto one of the many dirt roads that are so prevalent in rural Kansas. After about 1.5 miles I came to the stone bridge itself. Quite impressive, not only because of its structure, but also because it is literally in the middle of corn fields. Turns out, since December 12, 1976 the bridge has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Clements Stone Arch Bridge was erected in 1886 across the Cottonwood River and according to the nomination form, it is “a masterpiece of design and stone construction.” At the time the bridge was nominated it continued to serve local travel; since then, another bridge across the river carries travel to local farms and houses.

We learn more about the bridge to nowhere from the nomination form.^[1]

Chase County had been organized in 1859 but its big settlement boom came in the 1870s. The county had only 1900 people in 1870 but more than 6000 by 1880. Today the county’s total is 3600.^[2] The bridge was built during a period of growth and expansion, a time of great confidence in the state’s seemingly unlimited potential for growth.

In April of 1886 the Chase County commissioners ordered that a stone arched bridge be built over the Cottonwood River at Clements and appointed William Jeffrey as a special bridge commissioner for the project. In August bids were received for the project. Evidently each company that bid was bidding on its own design. The commissioners were dissatisfied with the first bids and ordered the project re-advertised. Then in September the contract was awarded to L P Santy and Company of Clements. As reported in the Chase County Leader of September 9, 1886, Santy’s prices were “Excavation — below water, 90 cents per cubic yard; above water, 30 cents. Masonry, $7.25 per cubic yard. Estimated cost of the bridge complete, $12,000. The contractor furnishes everything.”

The construction work soon began and the Leader told its readers on October 7, 1886, that the excavation for the south abutment was underway, that a cofferdam for the center pier was being constructed and that an elevated tramway was being built to transport the large stones. By the end of October the bridge was taking shape, and apparently it was finished in a matter of months.

The Clements stone bridge spans one hundred seventy-five feet over the Cottonwood River and is located on a secondary road in a rural setting. The bridge rises forty feet above the water level and the road bed is ten feet wide. The bridge was built of native stone from nearby quarries.

The span is supported by twin stone arches which have been accented by voussoirs^[3] and keystones. The east and west faces of the bridge and the foundations have been finished in large blocks of squared rubble. The inner faces of the arches have been built up of coursed cut stone. A plaque bearing the date and the names of the construction company, its principals and the county commissioners has been inserted on the west face of the bridge in the spandrel. The approach to the bridge has a slight rise in both directions and the stone work has been stepped indicating the steepness of that rise.

The bridge is very gracefully proportioned, the double arches setting up a subtle rhythm connecting the banks. The local materials used are complemented by the setting, making the bridge seem visually very appropriate. The scale and design is also interesting as it reflects the needs and concerns of the century before modern transportation.

The only alteration is the asphalt surface now on the roadway.

These days, the south entrance to the bridge is blocked off and the roadway overgrown with grass and weeds.

Note the plaque embedded in the center west face of the bridge.

Not much remains of Clements. Legends of Kansas classifies it as an extinct ghost town, even if there are two or three houses that show signs of being inhabited. In 1912 Frank Blackmar wrote the following about Clements.^[4]

Clements, a little town of Chase County, is located on the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe R R and the Cottonwood River, 15 miles southwest of Cottonwood Falls, the county seat. It has a money order post office with one rural route, telegraph and express offices, all the regular line of mercantile establishments, and a state bank. Live stock, hay, grain and produce are shipped in considerable quantities and Clements is the trading point of a large agricultural district. The population according to the census of 1910 was 200.

According to Legends of Kansas^[5]

in 1881, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was built through the area, and the station was called Crawfordsville for Joseph Crawford, an area resident. On October 12, 1881, the Silver Creek post office was moved to Crawfordsville. In February 1882, Joseph Crawford platted the town of Crawfordsville. The village soon had two stores. Just a few years later, the town and post office name changed again to Clements on June 6, 1884, to honor the auditor of the Santa Fe Railway, H G Clements.

More residents soon settled due to the railroad and the rich farm ground. Longhorn cattle arrived from Texas by the train load; they were unloaded and moved south and east to the pastures. As a result, the village became the center of the local farming and ranching communities.

Although it was never incorporated, Clements soon had a bank, barber shop, blacksmith, church, city park, dance hall, grocery, library, livery stable, lumber yard, mercantile, restaurant, and a three-story school building. However, in the next decades, the community endured fires and numerous floods, and the once busy settlement began to fade.

The post office closed on February 1, 1988. When I visited Clements, the former post office building looked renovated, although there were no signs of occupants. Other than this post office, there is nothing left of the stores, hotel, and other establishments that once lined both sides of Main Street.