This Abandoned Bridge Was Once a Vital Link Across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

You're looking at something special that few drivers on the modern US 2 ever notice, a long-abandoned bridge that once was a vital link across the Upper Peninsula.

The bridge is located in Gulliver, just east of Manistique and spans Marblehead Creek, a waterway that carries the outflow from Marblehead Lake to Lake Michigan. Today's US 2 sits about 650 feet south of the abandoned bridge, which is the first of three that crosses Marblehead Creek.

About 200 feet south of the bridge shown above is Gardapee Road, which was an old alignment of US 2. Today's US 2 straightens a bit of a sharp curve on Gardapee before heading into Manistique.

We couldn't find much information about the history of this bridge. There are two fine repositories of information on old bridges, HistoricBridges.org and BridgeHunter - and neither lists this bridge in its inventory of Schoolcraft County.

This capture from Google Earth shows the old bridge and the former alignment of the roadway.

The photo above is courtesy of Wheaty Wiethoff, who shared it on the excellent Michigan's Abanonded Structures and Places Facebook page.