Farm Lane

Farm Lane bridge, with typical traffic, circa 1915–1921. This was the third bridge on the site. Photo Credit: M.S.U. Archives.

Farm Lane was established very early in the College’s history, and its name suits its purpose: it was the access road to the College farms south of the river. It was positioned along the centerline of the farm for maximum access to the fields—a line that might have seemed inconveniently distant from College Hall in the days before motor vehicles and concrete paving. The lane was authorized by the Board of Education in 1860, along with its first bridge. (Students “skilled in the use of tools” built the first bridge over the river in the winter of 1857–58, but this was likely a simple footbridge.) The bridge, constructed of wood piles and planking, was 150 feet long, 16 feet wide, and cost $750.[Lautner, pp. 26–27]

Almond Harrison was commissioned to build that first bridge in April 1861 and finished it by August. He was paid in full, but within a year the Board of Agriculture was dissatisfied with the bridge’s construction, as evidenced by this pointed entry in the Minutes:

Resolved that Professor Fisk be requested to call on Almond Harrison, and request him to examine the South end of the bridge over the Cedar River, and see whether in his judgment, as a man of honor and fair dealing he ought not to make said bridge secure and safe, as it is now most insecure and unsafe.

Harrison seems to have responded satisfactorily, as the Minutes make no further mention of the matter.[Minutes, 9 Apr 1861, pp. 78–79; 29 Aug 1861, p. 83; 13 Nov 1862, p. 100]

Farm Lane ran north from the bridge and then turned to the west toward the original brick horse barn, which formed its terminus. (Today, Farm Lane turns at that same point to the east, rather than west, to meet Grand River Avenue opposite Collingwood Drive.) Around 1863, a line of fence along the east side of Farm Lane was extended north to the plank road (now Grand River Avenue), and the lane would soon follow this line to form a new entrance to campus.[2nd AR, p. 38]

The original Farm Lane bridge was carried away by ice during the spring thaw of 1875, and for much of that growing season work teams were detoured by up to three miles to cross the river. A temporary float bridge was used by students until a second wooden bridge designed by R. C. Carpenter could be completed in the same year.[14th AR, pp. 58, 61]

A hay wagon crosses the second Farm Lane bridge (1875–1888). Date of photo is unknown but is likely very late in the bridge’s lifetime, given the severely racked pilings—Professor Carpenter surely did not build it that way. Photo Credit: M.S.U. Archives.

In 1883 a large Grain Barn was built just north of the turn and astride the lane itself, effectively severing the connection between Farm Lane and Grand River Avenue. The path that remained continued to be used for access to the gardens further north. After the Grain Barn was moved to a new location farther south in 1905, Farm Lane once again reached to the Avenue. (This entrance was finally closed some time in the 1930s, although the line remains today in the form of a walking path to Berkey Hall.)

Third Farm Lane bridge, circa 1900–1905, looking north. Note the grain barn in the distance at right, astride the lane; it was moved in summer 1905 to the south end of the large barn at center, the Dairy Barn of 1900, to become an exercise shed. Photo Credit: M.S.U. Archives.

In 1888 the bridge was replaced with the iron bridge seen above, built by the Smith Bridge Company of Toledo, Ohio, at a cost of $1,200. Since the dairies and barnyard compounds were north of the river, and the pastures were to the south, for decades livestock was the predominant traffic across the bridge.[Minutes, 16 Aug 1887, p. 527. Beal, p. 89. Kuhn, pp. 104, 154. Lautner, p. 59]

On a side note, in the early years of the women’s course, female students were not allowed to cross to the south side of the river. The land beyond the bridge was considered “too wild”—after all, until the 1920s the south campus was truly barely tamed farmland. This was in an era of strict propriety in loco parentis, and this rule was but one in a litany of curfews and conduct guidelines.[Kestenbaum, p. 137]

Third Farm Lane bridge in its final years, undated photo circa 1930s. View is facing north, with Kedzie Chem Lab at left and part of a row of farm workers’ cottages at right. The sign reads “Bridge unsafe—cross at your own risk.” Photo Credit: M.S.U. Archives.

In 1935, the Board of Agriculture “requested the State Highway Department to take over the control and maintenance of Farm Lane… including the bridge over the Red Cedar.” This appears to have been an attempt at getting the state to foot the bill for a new bridge, and the highway department “definitely declined [the] invitation.” Four years later Highway Commissioner Murray Van Wagoner twice refused the Board's request to have his department design a replacement for the 1888 bridge. The College turned to the Works Progress Administration for funding, and a new, concrete-piered bridge was designed by Earl H. Shuttleworth and built in 1939. Its sidewalks were widened in the late 1960s.[Lautner, p. 142. Minutes, 17 Jan 1935, p. 1141; 15 Dec 1938, p. 1477; 19 Jan 1939, p. 1487]

Fourth Farm Lane bridge in 1951, view facing south. The brand-new Shaw Hall is at far left, and Farrall Hall (1948) in the distance at right. Between the two are the Dairy Barns of 1929, which stood opposite Shaw Hall until their removal in 1961 for the Planetarium. Note the odd combination of bridge railings in WPA Moderne style surmounted by Michigan State’s classic lantern posts. Photo Credit: M.S.U. Archives.

In addition to its obvious role as the main north–south traffic corridor through campus, and its significant importance as the only campus bridge over the Red Cedar River with a road surface above the 100-year floodplain, the bridge also supports numerous pieces of campus infrastructure. Conduits for steam, electrical, communication, sewer and water all cross the river via this bridge. Ever since its completion, it has also been the site of a hydrological gauge that measures and records fluctuations in the river’s depth and flow rate. The original gauge, valued at $250 in 1940 and installed in a special chamber within the bridge designed especially for that purpose, was provided to the College by the U.S. Geological Survey, which continues to operate the station today as one of more than 13,500 nationwide.[Minutes, 11 Mar 1940, p. 1604. USGS monitor site]

Just as each of its predecessors did in their turn, the fourth Farm Lane bridge has reached the end of its useful life. An inspection by the Michigan Department of Transportation in 2021 resulted in load limit restrictions and the closure of its east (northbound) traffic lane. The M.S.U. Board of Trustees authorized planning and design work to replace the bridge at its April 2022 meeting, and authorized proceeding with the project in February 2023. Managed by the M.S.U. Department of Infrastructure Planning and Facilities, work commenced in April 2023 and is expected to be completed in June 2024.[MSU IPF]