A beautiful, three span stone arch bridge, this was a replacement for an older, deteriorating, wooden bridge. Built of locally quarried sandstone, the rough bocks were left square, with the blocks being layed in a very rough manner, reminiscent of Medieval bridges. The bridge's appearance, though, is probably not as much intentional as it is an indication of the quality of skilled labour at the time.
With 3 foot guard walls, each 2 feet thick, there are 5 foot wide concrete sidewalks on each side of the asphalt road surface.
Yellowstone Street Bridge
Northeast of the tennis courts and crossing the old channel of the North Fork of the Yellowstone River lies the sandstone Yellowstone Street Bridge. Completed by the WPA in November, 1938 and replacing a deteriorating wooden bridge, the Yellowstone Street Bridge is constructed of sandstone quarried locally with three arched openings between the piers. The Romanesque-style bridge is a skewed three-span structure that measures 64 feet long and about 38 feet wide. Two 14-foot diameter steel culverts and one 20-foot diameter steel culvert, tied together by masonry headwalls, allow the passage of water. The walls feature regular coursed rock-faced ashlar with six pilasters on each wall and the headwalls extend into masonry wing walls. The round arches display stone keystones and voussoirs. The guard walls measure 3 feet high and 2 feet wide and flare at each end. Two 5-foot wide sidewalks flank the asphalt surfaced deck of the structure.
The beauty of the bridge was noted at the time of its construction:
Livingston people have been watching the progress of the bridge building job with a great deal of interest and all are agreed that it will be a beautiful and highly serviceable addition to the roadways leading to and from the park system.
The bridge presents the same as it did when originally constructed with the exception being the
removal of the lights atop the pilasters due to vandalism.
The Yellowstone River Bridge is a contributing resource to the Sacajawea/Miles Park Historic
District. It retains very strong integrity of location, feeling, setting, workmanship, association,
design, and materials.
From the NRHP Registration Form, Pages 9 & 10
Sacajawea/Miles Park Historic District
Sacajawea/Miles Park Historic District consists of two connected entities, Sacajawea Park to the west, and Miles Park to the east. Sacajawea Park, at approximately 15 acres (not including the lagoon acreage), is named in honor of the Shoshone woman who traveled near the island on July 15, 1806 while accompanying Captain William Clark and several members of the Lewis and Clark expedition on their return trip from the Pacific Ocean.
Miles Park, at roughly 22 acres, is named in honor of Arthur Wellington Miles, a pioneer businessman in Livingston’s early days. Together, the two parks are referred to as Sacajawea/Miles Park Historic District (the District). The property boasts numerous resources including an Armory/Civic Center, six baseball diamonds, a band shell, a large gazebo, open space, a gravity park (skate park), swimming pool, an historic bridge, and a lagoon.
The city fathers realized early the need for a park that allowed citizens the opportunity for recreation. Sacajawea Island served as the location for band concerts and barbecues long before the arrival of the WPA in 1935. Starting in 1935, plans by the WPA included connecting the two separate islands into the beautiful, unified recreation area found and enjoyed today. By the mid-1930s, WPA planning and construction began in earnest with the Armory/Civic Center.
From the NRHP Registration Form