Kate Shelley Crossing

USA / Iowa / Boone /
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Named for the heroic actions of Irish Immigrant Kate Shelley.

On the night of July 6, 1881, a railroad crew's service train crashed into nearby Honey Creek after a flash flood washed out the bridge that spanned it. Shelley crossed the remains of the Honey Creek bridge, then the Des Moines River bridge, to get help for the crew and to warn an oncoming passenger train. The railroad was eventually rerouted (over a newer bridge named in her honor) but the piers remain in the river.

Smithsonian Channel Youtube video on the event by the
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUDBXEep9s0

www.atmos.ucla.edu/~cwhung/kate.html
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Shelley
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   42°0'52"N   93°55'20"W

Comments

  • Actually,the bridge that Kate Shelley crossed was further to the east spanning Honey Creek. This is a common mistake because the bridge across Honey Creek is not to far from this bridge that crosses the Des Moines River.
This article was last modified 7 years ago