The Cedar Bend Drawbridge was built in 1887 by the Soo Line as part of its Minneapolis to Sault Ste Marie. This line carried passengers until 1961. It was sold to the Wisconsin Central, which was bought out by the Canadian National Railroad in 2001. The major user of the bridge today is the Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway, a tourist railroad line run by the Minnesota Transportation Museum.

The Saint Croix River was once a major working river, carrying both boat traffic and large groups of floating logs. To accommodate river traffic, the Cedar Bend bridge was built as a swing span with a long wooden trestle on the eastern approach. In modern times, there is no longer river navigation, and the logging industry is played out. The result is that it was no longer required to accommodate river navigation, so the old swing span was welded in the closed position, converting it into a fixed span. The wooden trestles have since been replaced with concrete piers and steel plate beams.

This bridge is located over a mile from any roads or trails, and the land in this area is posted. As a result, it is virtually impossible to visit and photograph this bridge. Even by water, it is a long trip from civilization. The photo above was taken by Shawn Schoenberger, whose father worked for the Soo Line and crossed this bridge many times during his career. The image below is clipped from Google Maps.