Skip to Main Content

Davenport, Iowa: Abe Lincoln Saves a Bridge

Sculpture features a larger-than-life beardless 1856 Abe Lincoln pondering a railroad bridge. He helped save the bridge, and all subsequent bridges across the Mississippi River, or at least that's what this statue suggests.

Address:
E. 2nd St., Davenport, IA
Directions:
On the riverfront, in a small park at the intersection of Iowa and E. 2nd Sts. The statue stands next to the ramp leading to the Arsenal Bridge across the Mississippi River.
Admission:
Free
Save to My Sights

Visitor Tips and News About Abe Lincoln Saves a Bridge

Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.

Abe Lincoln Saves a Bridge

The park and general area surrounding the statue seems really run down, but there is a brewery now across the street. Free parking is plentiful in the area.

[Suzerama, 09/25/2019]

Lincoln at the bridge.

Abe Lincoln Saves a Bridge

Officially titled, "A Little Less Opinion, A Little More Fact," this is another slice-of-life sculpture ennobling America's most artistically malleable President. Unveiled in January 2016, created by artist Jeff Adams, the larger-than-life bronze depicts a beardless 1856 Abe Lincoln meeting a boy on a railroad bridge -- a predecessor of the bridge that's behind the statue.

The original bridge was the first one across the Mississippi River, and it freaked out steamboat companies because they realized that bridges would put them out of business. They claimed that the bridge was a navigation hazard, and as if to prove their point, a steamboat rammed into it and burned it down. The owners of the steamboat filed a lawsuit, hoping to prevent any further bridges from being built.

Lincoln, working for the railroad, visited the bridge, accidentally met the son of the engineer who built it, and somehow this led to a hung jury that then led to the freedom to build bridges across the Mississippi -- or at least that's what this statue suggests. Abe Lincoln! Freedom!

[RoadsideAmerica.com Team, 01/17/2016]
Roadside Presidents
Roadside Presidents App for iPhone. Find this attraction and more: museums, birthplaces, graves of the Chief Execs, first ladies, pets, assassins and wannabes. Prez bios and oddball trivia. Available on the App Store.

Nearby Offbeat Places

Famous Chiropractor Cracks Your BackFamous Chiropractor Cracks Your Back, Davenport, IA - < 1 mi.
Jake and Elwood Blues BrothersJake and Elwood Blues Brothers, Rock Island, IL - < 1 mi.
Atomic CannonAtomic Cannon, Rock Island, IL - 1 mi.
In the region:
Neon Tree, Lone Tree, IA - 44 mi.

Latest Tips Across Roadside America

Catch up on the latest discoveries from the road.

Explore Thousands of Oddball Tourist Attractions!

Unique destinations in the U.S. and Canada are our special obsession. Use our attraction recommendation and maps to plan your next road trip.

My Sights

My Sights on Roadside America

Create and Save Your Own Crazy Road Trip! ...Try My Sights

Mobile Apps

Roadside America app: iPhone, iPad Roadside America app for iPhone, iPad. On-route maps, 1,000s of photos, special research targets! ...More

Roadside Presidents app: iPhone, iPad Roadside Presidents app for iPhone, iPad. POTUS landmarks, oddities. ...More

Iowa Latest Tips and Stories

Latest Visitor Tips

Sight of the Week

Sight of the Week

JFK's World Famous Twine Ball, Highland, Wisconsin (Mar 18-24, 2024)

SotW Archive

USA and Canada Tips and Stories

More Sightings