Cedar Bridge refers to three different bridges in Madison County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. The original Cedar Covered Bridge was built in 1883, moved in 1921, and was named to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976. The bridge was filmed in the 1995 movie ''

The Bridges of Madison County ''The Bridges of Madison County'' (also published as ''Love in Black and White'') is a 1992 best-selling Romance novel, romance novel by American writer Robert James Waller that tells the story of an Italian-American World War II war bride livi ...

'' and destroyed by arson in 2002. The second covered Cedar Bridge was built in 2004. This second bridge was destroyed by arsonists in 2017. The bridge was again rebuilt in 2019.

The original Cedar Covered Bridge

Cedar Covered Bridge was built in 1883 by Harvey P. Jones at a location north of Winterset over Cedar Creek which is now U.S. 169. It was long. The bridge was moved in 1921 to the current location over Cedar Creek. A picture of this bridge is on the cover of the novel ''

''. It was renovated in 1998. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. This bridge was destroyed by arson on September 3, 2002. It was taken off the National Register of Historic Places on October 18, 2002.

New Cedar Covered Bridge

A replacement bridge was built to the same plans and specifications as the original and using authentic materials and techniques. It reopened during October, 2004. On April 15, 2017, the new bridge was again destroyed by fire. As of April 19, 2017, Joel Davis, 18, of Norwalk, and Alexander Hoff, 17, of West Des Moines, were both arrested and charged with first-degree arson. The 17-year-old will be tried as an adult. A third person, Alivia Marie Bergmann, 19, of Des Moines, was arrested and charged with second-degree arson in May 2017. In April 2018, Joel Davis was sentenced to 5 years' probation, a $1,000 fine, court costs, and restitution for the burned bridge. Alexander Hoff received five years of probation and a suspended 10-year prison sentence. Alivia Bergmann pleaded guilty to second-degree arson and was sentenced to 5 years' probation and bridge restitution. The city again rebuilt the bridge and reopened it during the annual "Covered Bridge Festival" in October 2019.

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{{National Register of Historic Places Bridges completed in 1883 Covered bridges in Iowa Wooden bridges in Iowa Tourist attractions in Madison County, Iowa Bridges in Madison County, Iowa Road bridges in Iowa Bridges completed in 2004 Former National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Covered bridges in the United States destroyed by arson

The original Cedar Covered Bridge

New Cedar Covered Bridge

See also

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