Crossing the Mississippi River at Memphis are the Harahan and Frisco Bridges.
The Frisco Bridge was built in 1892 and the Harahan in 1916.
This post card shows how the bridges appeared in the 1920's
or 1930's. The Frisco bridge is on the left (South) and the Harahan is on
the right. Notice the automobile lane attached to the side of the Harahan
Bridge. The first automobile bridge across the Mississippi was built in 1949.
Prior to that, automobile traffic used lanes attached to either side of the
Harahan.
At
first glance the bridges appear today about the same as they did fifty or
sixty years ago
The
Frisco Bridge has been used exclusively for over 100 years by the St Louis-
San Francisco (Frisco) and it's descendent lines, the Burlington Northern
and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and is virtually unchanged.
The
Harahan was used by the Rock Island, St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt,
Southern Pacific) and Missouri Pacific. With the bankruptcy of the RI, and
the merger of the UP, MP and SP, today the Union Pacific is the sole owner
and only user of the Harahan.
Examination
of the Harahan Bridge reveals that the roadways on either side of the bridge
are gone, but the steel beams that supported them are still there.
Click on the Harahan Bridge Plaque
for a visit to Steve Cox's Place and his photo essay about the Harahan Bridge.