I know almost nothing about the old Main Street Bridge in Cloquet. It once crossed the south channel of the Saint Louis River about one block west of the current Main Street Bridge. The bridge was removed around 1995 when the new Main Street Bridge opened.

Main Street once ran north and south through Cloquet and onto Dunlap Island. At some point in the past, a factor expansion lead to the closing of Main Street on the south side of the river. The section of Main Street south of the river was renamed Vine Street. The result was that Main Street branched off of First Street, ran along the south bank of the river for a block, then crossed the river onto Dunlap Island. When the new bridge was built, the factory was expanded to take the roadway where Main Street ran along the river. As a result, the new main street crosses the river channel directly in line with First Street, very near the new MN-33 expressway bridge.

The photo above is looking upstream from the sidewalk on the MN-33 expressway bridge. The south bridge abutment was located on the left side of the photo at the pile of rocks just above the street lamp. The north bridge abutment was located directly behind the tall tree on the right side of the photo.

The photo below is looking north towards the north end of Vine Street. This was once Main Street, and it once continued north to cross the river channel, which is located directly behind the factory building at the back of the photo.

The photo above is looking south towards the north end of the old Main Street Bridge on Dunlap Island. The barricade blocking the road to the old bridge is still in place. The photo below is the location of the south bridge abutment. There were rocks on each side of the abutment to prevent erosion. When the abutment was removed, there was a big gap. Additional rocks were brought in to fill that gap and stabilize the riverbank.