This river crossing was once a popular ferry crossing. The ferry boat was operated by Captain Hinderman, so it became known as Hinderman's Ferry. That name later was applied to the bridge, which was known as Hinderman's Bridge.

One of the few pieces of documentation that I have been able to find on this bridge so far is from the General Laws of Minnesota for 1905. In Chapter 338, Section 13: "the sum of $1,800 to aid in building a bridge across the Minnesota river between the township of Ridgely in Nicollet county and the town of Home in Brown county, at or near what is known as Hinderman's Ferry. Said appropration shall be expended under the direction of Captain Hinderman and William La Flamboy of Nicollet county and Hans Moe of the village of Sleepy Eye."

I attempted to check out the bridge site in the spring of 2008. The river was high, and was flowing across the approach road about a mile before the main river channel (as seen in the photo above). Even in areas that were still above the river level, the road was muddy and had large sink holes. The north end of the bridge connects to a loop road that branches off of the Minnesota River Valley Scenic Parkway. That loop road was blocked off due to high water on each end. I'll check back in late summer when the river is lower and the road is dry.

One interesting note is that this bridge does not appear on any historical maps from the era that I have located. It seems odd that a bridge would be established at this remote location when a bridge was alread in place less than 5 miles upstream. So far, the only evidence that suggests that a bridge was at this location is a Minnesota state DNR canoe map that gives the location of the bridge remnants at river mile 170.9.