Historical December 1985 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Among the earliest articles about a bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis were those which appeared in 1836, nearly forty years before Eads Bridge was opened for traffic.
The first important engineer to speculate on a design for a bridge at St. Louis was a man named Lathrop from Pittsburgh.
Even John A. Roebling, later gaining significance for his Brooklyn Bridge, speculated on a design for such bridge, before the Civil War.
By the mid-1850’s, the citizens on both sides of the river began to view a bridge not only a possibility but also a commercial necessity.
While the Civil War put an end to all bridge interest, it also brought major economic success to James B. Eads who built the first seven ironclads in the western hemisphere for the Union Navy.
His boats were the main water tool for opening the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans, cutting the Confederacy in two and bringing the first victories to the Union cause.
In April 1867. he formed the St. Louis and Illinois Bridge Company.
A rival company, promoted by L.B. Boomer of Chicago, was formed almost immediately thereafter and called the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company. Lucius Boomer, celebrated today by a restaurant on Laclede’s Landing scarcely a block from the bridge of his eventual partner and early rival, had a design from an engineer named S.S. Post.
A truss design, Post’s bridge had as its longest span a distance of 350 feet. Eads’ bridge two end spans were 502 feet, and the central span was 500 feet. Boomer’s company, joined in opposition to Eads by Wiggins Ferry now owned by William Christy, contended a span of 500 feet had never been built and was impossible. Eads countered that argument by pointing out the 509 foot span of the Knilenberg Bridge in Holland already extant, and to argue against something in any case simply because it. hadn’t been done was senseless! Obviously, Eads carried the day, but he had to compromise.
He saw that Boomer’s group would not go away with good engineering arguments so he proposed a merger of the two companies. Boomer’s group had suggested the bridge should go five blocks south of where Eads wanted his bridge, which would have put it nearly where the Arch is right now.
But Eads merger changed the name of the resulting company to that of Boomer’s group, i.e. the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company, but kept his design and location.
He engaged Henry Flad and Charles Pfeifer as his chief assistants, and William Chauvenet, the renowned mathematician on the faculty of Washington University, served as a consultant during the early design stages.
Even before construction began, Eads was in court with the steamboat association opposing his every move. Wiggins Ferry was particularly active in legal opposition to the plan to build the bridge. Eads had achieved Congressional approval for his plan in 1865, using his boat building influence just as the Civil War was ending. Attempts were made by the boat interests to undo the approval of Congress, but none of that came to any purpose.
The local legal suits kept Eads and his lawyers walking the halls of the Old Courthouse virtually throughout the construction of the bridge. None of that succeeded in doing much more than enriching the lawyers.
On July 5, 1874, the bridge formally opened for traffic.
The first train had crossed the bridge on June 9, 1874.
An opening celebration committee was formed on June 15, and it was decided to open on Independence Day even though President Grant could not come to the event.
A grand triumphal arch was built on the east entrance to the bridge; a large painting of Eads and two symbolic figures of Missouri and Illinois festooned the west entrance. Other artistic and figura tive items clothed the bridge for the formal opening, and fireworks broke the evening in celebration of the bridge and Independence Day.
Since that time nine other bridges have been built over the Mississippi at St. Louis of which seven are still in use. Only Eads Bridge has been declared a national architectural monument, and it remains the oldest existing bridge over the Mississippi. Its influence on subsequent generations, through such architects as Louis Sullivan who admired it greatly and came down from Chicago just to watch it go up, cannot be estimated.
It became more than just a link between two cities and two states; it was and is a symbol of engineering skill and daring.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, December 1985.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Archival transcription note: Source states bridge formally opened July 5, 1874, then describes Independence Day opening; inconsistency retained for review.
Original source: SD_Times1985_12.pdf, printed page(s) 11; PDF page(s) 11.
