Name/Title
Grand Island Bridge over Missouri River, St. Joseph, Mo. Color Postcard, 1911Entry/Object ID
AM1978.5.26Scope and Content
Grand Island Bridge over Missouri River, St. Joseph, Mo. Color Postcard, 1911. Colorized photo of rand Island Bridge over Missouri RIver at St. Joseph, Missouri. Unmailed.
Same as 61.38.4F., 14.7.CCC
Contained in postcard album, 78.5.2
The original bridge was built by the St. Joseph Bridge Building Company and cost $716,000 (of which St. Joseph had paid $500,000) and opened on May 20, 1873, with a crossing by the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad. The original bridge had six piers with three spans of 300 feet, one fixed span of 80 feet on the east end and a draw span of 3,654 feet makin the total span of 1,345 feet.
On June 16, 1879, the bridge was transferred to Jay Gould and operated under the name of the St. Joseph & Grand Island Railroad Company (which was primarily used for the Union Pacific). The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad also had trackage rights to the bridge.
The bridge still fell into disrepair and the city bonds were never paid off and it was sold to the bond holders for $5,000 in a foreclosure sale in 1901.
The bridge was replaced with the current swing bridge in 1906.Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
PostcardNomenclature Sub-Class
Writing MediaNomenclature Class
Written Communication T&ENomenclature Category
Category 06: Tools & Equipment for CommunicationLOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Bridges, RailroadsSearch Terms
Missouri River, Grand Island Bridge