The old bridge over the Swan River near downtown Bigfork has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. Although the designation does not prevent the one-lane bridge from being changed or even removed, it does make it less likely that it would be altered without community input.
The bridge was built by the A.Y. Bayne & Company in 1911 and 1912 and cost the county $4,400 to construct. Although some alterations have been made, including the addition of a sidewalk and new railings, the bridge looks much like it did 103 years ago. The local efforts to add the bridge to the historic register, which is administered by the National Park Service, came about last year when the county announced that it was looking to possibly replace the old bridge. In the application to register the bridge, it was noted that the structure is representative of many road bridges built in Montana between 1888 and 1915. In 1915, the Montana State Highway Commission standardized its steel truss bridge designs.