In 1890, the StPM&M would become part of the Great Northern Railway, a system of railroads in the Northern United States.
By 1891, the route was extended to Crookston, which would become a major junction of railroads.
During this same time, the line here would be upgraded.
By 1970, the Great Northern merged with rival Northern Pacific, as well as partner Chicago, Burlington & Quincy to form Burlington Northern.
The line became known as the "P Line", named after Perley. It was one of several parallel routes through Minnesota and North Dakota.
In 1996, BN merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe to form BNSF Railway, who sought to discard extra lines.
One such line was the portion of the "P Line" between Perley and Crookston. It would be sold to Minnesota Northern, a Short Line.
Minnesota Northern would abandoned the portion between Shelley and Perley in 2011, and BNSF would abandoned their section between Georgetown and Perley. An additional section between Nielsville and Perley would be abandoned in 2018.
Today, MNN still operates the segment from Crookston to Nielsville, while BNSF has retained the segment from Moorhead to Georgetown.
06/26/21
Located in the town of Georgetown, this large deck girder bridge crosses the Buffalo River.
Built in 1908, the bridge features four deck girder spans. These spans mainly rest on stone piers, but a timber pier supports the southern spans. In addition, a series of trestle spans approach the south end.
According to GN records, the southern pier was replaced in 1950 by the current timber pier. It is unknown why the pier failed.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair condition. As it is no longer used, the bridge has an unknown future.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.