Historic bridges of Missouri
There's something fascinating about bridges - especially the old ones. For that reason, I am SO GLAD that I didn't skip last night's meeting of the Stoddard County Historical Society! We had no idea of the treat which lay in store for us, when a young man named James Baughn (yes, it's pronounced like 007's name) substituted for Dr. Frank Nickell, who had to postpone his presentation until next month.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Baughn works for the Southeast Missourian in Cape, I gather, and, in fact, he's the one designed the websites for our papers. This talented young man has traveled Missouri and nearby states collecting information and taking photos of the old bridges before they fall into oblivion. He concentrated on the bridges of Stoddard and Bollinger County, but his collection of photos includes historic bridges around St. Louis and all over the state.
Along with the photos, Baughn gave construction details about each bridge, whether they were "pin-connected" (built before 1920), or "rivet-connected;" whether they were "through truss bridges" or "pony truss" bridges. He explained that "pratt truss" bridges with flat tops were the most common in the state and had a length limit of about 120 feet. He also referred to "Parker trusses," "Penn trusses," and "Warren trusses."
"I wasn't going to talk about the different types of trusses tonight, because I thought it would be boring for you," Baughn said. HA! He little knew this group!! We were FASCINATED by all this bridge construction stuff! You'd have thought we had plans to build one in our back yards!
Baughn has a WONDERFUL website at http://www.bridgehunter.com. He has a passion for the preservation of old bridges and told us about the "Chain of Rocks" bridge, an all-steel bridge which has been restored in the St. Louis area on old Route 66. Foot traffic is allowed on the bridge, but several of last night's audience cautioned us to "take all your valuables with you" if we decide to visit the bridge. The parking lot is a high-crime area, and items are stolen from cars with regularity.
The McKinley Bridge, built in St. Louis in 1910, has also been restored and has a bike trail, which is being expanded.
Baughn simply mentioned too many bridges for me to include all of them here! Among them were bridges in Aquilla, Avert, Puxico (Indian Ford Bridge, among others), Wapappello (longest truss bridge in Southeast Missouri, built in 1911), Dexter (on 114 by the radio station, 1922 Pony truss bridge), Old Hiway 25 bridges built in 1922), Sedgewickville (largest Parker bridge still standing, at 170 feet), Old Appleton bridge (built in 1879, destroyed by flood, rebuilt by the community), Black River bridges, Morehouse plate girder bridge over the Big Ditch......
You must go on his site and see the bridge near Jefferson City - the first one to be replaced by the stimulus money. Oh, my! What a spectacular bridge! Baughn also has a photo of a truck which took a wrong turn and tried to cross one of the old bridges. Oh, dear, oh dear!
The hour-long presentation went far too fast for our group, and we made him promise to come back for a second dose! I confess that I would like to spend today and the rest of the week, traveling around the countryside, looking for old bridges! What a wonderful hobby! Then, after we find them, let's come up with a way to SAVE them!!
If you are interested in attending some of the society's programs, they occur at the Stars & Stripes Museum in Bloomfield at 6:30 p.m. on the last Monday of each month. Dr. Nickell will present a historical program on U.S. presidents Washington and Lincoln at the March meeting.
From the bridgeless community of Tillman, Missouri, this is your rural reporter, suffering from a severe case of Bridge Nostalgia...
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I also received two photos of the old Greenbrier bridge from Paul Corbin, and I want to post them. Can't decide if I want to do it on a new blog - or switch out the Gipsy Bridge photo... I just talked to Mr. Corbin, and he said that there were two Gipsy bridges, one over the Castor and one over Gipsy Creek. The one in my photo is the second one. I'm hoping he feels up to posting a reply on this blog today and can tell us more.
I wish Mr. Corbin felt up to writing more on the blogs. He has so much information inside his head! However, I do believe that he uses the "Hunt & Peck" system of typing, and it takes a looooong time for him to post a story. Right now, he's feeling under the weather (and we know what the weather's been like!!) I'll see if he's receptive to my posting some of his previous stories, many of which haven't been seen by much of the public.
I think the Susquahanna bridge is especially beautiful! I also enjoy the links to the Library of Congress sites, which have even more photos and history.
I've been thinking about the tendancy for "cheap" bridges to be built in this country. I put "cheap" in quotation marks, because they're certainly not inexpensive - but they do seem to be made more ...ah...economically, and less permanently than the bridges in, say, Europe. Maybe it's just that those countries are so OLD, and the materials were relatively cheap at the time. Plus, labor was super cheap.
Do you perchance have a photo on bridgehunter.com of that 1961 bridge that MoDot is replacing?