[3] A previous bridge at this location, dating to the 19th century, was Mazeppa's only crossing over the Zumbro River and a link on a key road between Rochester and Lake City, Minnesota.

That bridge was condemned in 1901 but remained in use until the Mazeppa village council contracted with the W. S. Hewett Co. in 1904 for a replacement, selling bonds to help raise some of the $3,775 cost.

As such it fell within a unique window in Minnesota bridge construction: in the prior decade steel had supplanted iron as the construction material of choice, but in 1911 the recently formed Minnesota State Highway Commission would enact standards that led to far greater similarity in bridge designs.

[3] The city of Mazeppa rehabilitated the bridge from 2001 to 2002, removing non-historic elements, replacing deteriorated structures, and adding new safety features.

The rehabilitation project reopened the bridge to pedestrian use and won an award from the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.