Another Abandoned Railway Bridge: Osseo, Michigan

Do you realize the extraordinary amount of abandoned railroad bridges there are throughout Michigan? Many old lumber company railroads and mining railroads closed down or were torn up thanks to supplies depleting.

Many rails have been ripped out and removed, some turning into walking and biking trails. Many that were removed ended up being grown over with bushes, trees, and weeds and are long forgotten; if it weren’t for some of those old, abandoned railroad bridges still intact, we would have lost track of many old Michigan railroads.

One such abandoned railroad stone bridge can be found near Osseo in Hillsdale County, part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. This particular segment of the railroad connected Adrian to Hillsdale and has been discontinued, ripped out, and abandoned. The old stone rail bridge has been turned into part of the Baw Beese Trail, with handrails for the shaky.

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The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway began transporting in 1839 but wasn’t completed until 1852. In 1914 it was replaced by the New York Central Railroad. For a few years, it was the only rail line that could take travelers from the east coast to Chicago.

The bridge is hard to see in the summer when all the leaves are out and the weeds are tall...but come fall and winter, the bridge is a cool sight to see and to visit. Believed to have been constructed in the 1870s, this old rail bridge is just another little off-the-radar place to stop for some photos and to soak up ‘what once was’.