New configuration. The Olmsted County masterplan moves things around but retains fishing pier on the old White Bridge abutment. New is a curbed fishing bridge that sweeps over the water Image: Olmsted County Parks Department

Olmsted County’s new four-acre playground

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A long-range plan for a new park at the White Bridge fishing pier on Lake Zumbro near Oronoco was been approved by the Olmsted County Board.

Earlier: White Bridge Pier due for upgrade, new name

What’s in a name: A saga

1918: A white-painted wood bridge was moved from North Mankato to provide better access for northern Olmsted County famers across Lake Zumbro.

1972: A car ran off the White Bridge and damaged the support structure.

1973: The Army Corps of Engineers, which controls the lake as a dammed flowage, improvised with a temporary bridge.

1978: The Army Corps built a concrete bridge slightly upriver at Sandy Point as part of State Route 247. The old bridge was ripped out and the remnants, painted white, became a dead-end – and a great fishing pier with a a boat-launch ramp a popular nearby eatery, the Fisherman’s Inn.

1990: Upscale condos cropped up at Sandy Point.

2019: Olmsted County bought the Fisherman’s Inn and closed it.