The Longest Wooden Bridge in the World

In 1909, the folks in Sandpoint built something nobody else dared to — a two-mile wooden bridge across Lake Pend Oreille. They called it the “Wagon Bridge,” and it stretched from Sandpoint all the way across to Sagle. Locals were proud of it, and rightly so — it was the longest wooden bridge in the world at the time. You could ride a horse, pull a cart, or later drive your Model T across the lake instead of waiting for a ferry or skating across in winter. It creaked, it swayed a little, and in the spring it smelled like pine soaked in rain. But it connected people — to family, to work, to possibility. It was more than just boards and nails. It was a lifeline.