Kim's County Line: Bridge Over Peace Creek Water

You remember the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff from your childhood, right? The three billy goats wanted to get from one meadow to the next. But, in order to make the trip, they needed to cross a wooden bridge with a big troll stationed under the bridge, wanting to eat them up.

The little goat's hooves went Trip-Trap, Trip-Trap as he crossed the wooden bridge. He told the troll something bigger and tastier would come along. So, the troll allowed him passage to the other side.

The middle-sized goat's hooves made a Trap-Rap, Trap-Rap sound as he crossed the bridge. He, too, did a bit of fast-talking and outmaneuvered the ravenous troll, throwing the bigger goat under the bus - or under the bridge, so to speak.

And the big goat hammered out a Stomp-Tromp, Stomp-Tromp as he crossed the bridge and also outwitted the lurking troll. (In some versions, there's violence involved and the troll's untimely demise. We'll just keep it to the PG version for our purposes and say that all the billy goats arrived and were able to graze on greener pastures.)

The wooden bridge over Peace Creek always made me think of that story, especially when its planks were struck by dozens of cattle hooves pounding their way across it during one of our many cattle-moving days.

The bridge - located a couple of miles north of our house - has been a conduit from 4th Street Road to our house for me for 40 years. It was the start of the route to visit the library in Hutchinson and other destinations there. But, more importantly, it was the route to get to much of our farm ground and pastures.

Randy grew up less than a half mile from the bridge, so it's been a life-long centerpiece for him. Besides being a "thoroughfare" for our farming operation, it was a childhood location for the Fritzemeier kids to meet the Hornbaker cousins for a little neighborly fun.

This was a photo taken by my late brother-in-law, Lyle. It shows part of the bridge in fall.

When Randy's brother Lyle died in September 2020, I posted the photo above, and mentioned the excursions to the Peace Creek bridge. I got this response from one of those neighbor "kids:"

Oh the stories to tell of deeds done here! The famous rocket tree, picking leeches from between our toes, the nest of owlets beneath the bridge, fishing with string and a safety pin and never understanding why we were such unlucky fishermen, and the hundreds of miles racing our bikes down those sandy roads.
Pam Hornbaker Turner

Since April 22 this spring, the Reno County Public Works department has been working on the bridge, so we've had to detour from our normal route.

As I looked for photos of the bridge, I realized I've probably taken more photos from the bridge than I've taken of the bridge.

Taken from the bridge on a spring/summer day.

October 2018, when we got an overabundance of rain.

A winter scene from the bridge.

But a Kim's County Line blog search did yield several images of this important way we've gotten from Point A to Point B throughout the years - spring, summer, fall and winter.

One of the public works guys told Randy on Tuesday, August 5, that it would only be a couple more weeks before they are done. None of us who live along the route are going to bet on that completion date. But I guess it's something they can aspire to, right?

Photo by Randy - May 4, 2025

Since the April start date, Randy has taken periodic trips to check their progress. His first one was taken on May 4.

Shelby, and her husband, Justin, bought Melvin and Marie's house. Shelby, too, has chronicled the bridge progress on her Facebook page.

Photo - Shelby Bremer

Her first photo was taken on May 9.

Photo by Shelby Bremer

Shelby's photo on May 14.

Photo by Shelby Bremer

Shelby's photo on May 21.

Photo by Shelby Bremer

And Shelby's photo on July 11 (above).

The photo above was taken by Randy on July 17.

On August 5, Randy watched as they craned one of the spans into place.

That's when the worker optimistically said the bridge would be in place in the next couple of weeks.


Morning of August 7, 2025

They'd made a lot of progress when we checked again on August 7.

However, no longer will there be that clomping sound as cattle walk over the bridge. With this rendition of the bridge, there's no wood. I'm guessing it will hold up better in the long run.

We neighborhood people are definitely ready for its completion. Don't get me wrong: I'm glad they worked on it. Every time I drove the heavy feed truck across it or watched the combine traverse it, I hoped it would stay standing.


2013 photo accompanying blog post on beaver gnawing down a tree there. Click HERE.

The wooden bridge was central to many of our cattle-moving endeavors. During one of those times, I had my life flash before my eyes tumbling off that bridge in a 4-wheeler accident in 2019.

Randy has lived and worked near the bridge for his entire life - nearly 70 years now. This current remodel is the third time he recalls that road crews have worked on it.

After one of those rebuilds when Randy was about junior high age, Randy's dad asked if he could have some of the wood stripped from the bridge.

That request was granted, and Melvin used it to build feed bunks in the winter pasture by the bridge.

The bridge looks a lot different, both on top and underneath, with this latest version.

2025 version - August 7

On one of Randy's earlier expeditions to view progress, workers had explained that they had driven i-beams into the ground until they reached solid rock.