The Great Northern Railroad built this rail line along Highway 2 in the 1890s. The line opened for traffic in September 25, 1898. At the time, a wooden trestle was built over the Mississippi River. Wood posts from that trestle are still visible in the water.

The trestle was replaced with a new bridge in 1908. This bridge featured the concrete piers, two truss spans, and a swing span. The photo below shows a large octagonal pier. That is where the swing span once rested.

The current bridge was built in 1967. River traffic was no longer an issue, so the swing span was removed, as were the truss section. The piers were raised 5 feet, and the deck plate bridge was installed. This new bridge would allow much heavier rail traffic to cross the river. That was short lived, however, as the demand fell for rail service in northern Minnesota in the 1970s.

This bridge is the third of five Mississippi River crossings where the river is the boundary between Cass County and Itasca County.