N. M. Stark and Company

N. M. Stark and Company, of Des Moines, Iowa, was a firm active in building bridges in Iowa.^[1]

Nathaniel McClure Stark (1863-1935) was born in Indianola, Iowa, and received an engineering degree from Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University). In 1888, he entered the bridge building industry as an agent for the King Iron Bridge and Manufacturing Company of Cleveland.^[2][3][4] He founded the N. M. Stark Company in 1894.^[2][5]

N. M. Stark had an effective monopoly on bridge construction in Marshall County, Iowa from 1908 until a state law in 1913 stopped the practice.^[6]

A number of the firm's works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.^[7]

Works include:

• Calamus Creek Bridge (1905), aka 325th Street Bridge, 325th Street over Calamus Creek, Maxwell, Iowa, NRHP-listed^[7]
• East Indian Creek Bridge (1912), 260th Street over East Indian Creek, Nevada, Iowa, NRHP-listed^[7][6]
• Eighth Street Bridge, South Eighth Street over the Big Sioux River, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, NRHP-listed^[7]
• Honey Creek Bridge (1910), over Honey Creek at 105th Street, near Bangor, Iowa^[2]
• Minerva Creek Bridge (1910), County Road S52 over Minerva Creek, Clemons, Iowa, NRHP-listed^[7][8]
• Rainbow Arch Bridge, aka South Third Avenue Bridge, over Linn Creek on South Third Avenue, Marshalltown, Iowa^[9]
• Squaw Creek Bridge (1908), over Squaw Creek in Ames, Iowa^[2]
• State Street Bridge (1903), East State Street over Willow Creek, Mason City, Iowa, NRHP-listed^[7]
• Stewart Avenue Bridge, North Carolina Avenue over the Winnebago River, Mason City, Iowa, NRHP-listed^[7]
• Stoe Creek Bridge (1914), V Avenue over Stoe Creek, Oelwein, Iowa, NRHP-listed^[7][10]
• Tremaine Bridge (1902), 280th Street over the Boone River, Webster City, Iowa, NRHP-listed^[7]
• Twin Bridge (1916), 130th Street over the Little Volga River, Fayette, Iowa, NRHP-listed^[7]
• Vine Street Bridge, South Vine Street over Otter Creek, West Union, Iowa, NRHP-listed^[7][11]

References

1. "N. M. Stark and Company". Bridgehunter.com. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
2. "Honey Creek Bridge, HAER No. IA-39" (PDF). National Park Service, Historic American Engineering Record. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
3. Johnson Brigham (1911). Des Moines: The Pioneer of Municipal Progress and Reform of the Middle West: Together with the History of Polk County, Iowa, the Largest, Most Populous and Most Prosperous County in the State of Iowa, Volume 2, Part 2. Clarke. p. 1020.
4. "Nathaniel McClure Stark". Find A Grave. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
5. "Historic Bridges in South Dakota, 1893-1943" (PDF). 1993. p. 14, other.
6. "Historic Bridges of Iowa: East Indian Creek bridge". Iowa Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
7. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
8. "Historic Bridges of Iowa: Minerva Creek Bridge". Iowa Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
9. "South Third Avenue Bridge HAER IA-8 (Rainbow Arch Bridge)" (PDF). National Park Service, Historic American Engineering Record. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
10. "Historic Bridges of Iowa: Stoe Creek Bridge". Iowa Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
11. "Historic Bridges of Iowa: Vine Street Bridge". Iowa Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 20, 2012.