Over half of balusters from Carthage bridge are sold

Over half of the 100 limestone balusters salvaged from the now-demolished Highway 96 (aka Route 66) bridge in Carthage, Missouri, were sold for $250 apiece.

Dozens of the balusters were purchased within 30 minutes — mostly by locals — when they went on sale Friday as a fundraiser for Vision Carthage, a nonprofit dedicated to city beautification.

Road crews removed the balusters — which are decorative columns in the bridge — in February when the deteriorated bridge was closed in September 2016 and eventually replaced.

The sale already has netted more than $15,000 for the organization, reported the Joplin Globe.

Construction of the bridge in the northeast side of Carthage began in 1934 as part of a Public Works Administration project. The project used local limestone to help keep workers employed during the Great Depression.

An accident on the Missouri 96 bridge in 2002 gave the city the idea the balusters might have value. A bus crashed through one of the guardrails. Several residents scooped up the balusters lying on the roadway during the crash cleanup.

Vision Carthage hasn’t decided on how to sell the rest of the three-dozen balusters. They may be sold online, or may be sold during the city’s Maple Leaf Festival that begins next weekend.

The balusters are sold as-is, with cracks and other imperfections from age and weathering.

Those who wish to buy one of them should contact Mark Elliff, a member of the Vision Carthage board, at (417) 358-2373. A website for online sales hasn’t been set up yet.

(Screen-capture image of one of the Missouri 96 bridge balusters via KODE-TV report; screen-capture image from Carthage Press video of road crews removing limestone balusters from the old Missouri 96 bridge in Carthage, Missouri)

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