The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, which once carried Route 66 from Madison, Ill., to north St. Louis, has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, reports digitalBurg.com of Warrensburg, Mo.
The nominations will be considered by the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation on Aug. 11 in St. Joseph.
The image above is from an old postcard. The toll building is gone, but the bridge looks the same.
Here’s the description of the bridge:
Closed to vehicular traffic, the Chain of Rocks Bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis still remains an iconic feature of the historic Route 66. The mile-long bridge contains a unique 30 degree bend in the middle, designed originally to ease navigation on the Mississippi, that became a well known bottleneck to automobile traffic.
The bridge was designed by Baxter L. Brown, fabricated by the American Bridge Co. and constructed by the Union Bridge and Construction Co. Construction began in 1927 and the bridge opened to traffic in July 1929.
The City of Madison, Ill., purchased the bridge from the original private investors in the 1930s. The tolls from the bridge generated significant revenue for the city, especially after it was designated as a part of Route 66 in 1936. The bridge closed soon after the construction of the New Chain of Rocks Bridge in 1968.
Today, Trailnet maintains the bridge as a pedestrian and cycling corridor.