Friday, May 10, 2013

Fairground Street Bridge

 
Vicksburg, Mississippi

The Fairground Street Bridge, built in 1868, was used as a railroad bridge in Dubuque, Iowa before being moved to Vicksburg in 1895 where it spanned the Illinois Central Rail Yard (now Kansas City Southern). My wife's grandfather worked for the Illinois Central and used to walk across this bridge on his way to work.

The bridge is an example of a Pratt through truss design, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

This picture was taken a few minutes before the one above (the train was backing up) and gives a better view of the bridge in its current condition.

National Park Service photo in the Library of Congress - Public domain.

This 1986 picture shows the Fairground Street Bridge when it was still in use. Several years ago there was interest in moving the bridge about a mile north to the Lower Mississippi River Museum but the cost and brittle condition of the structure has made such a move unlikely. Today, the bridge is quietly deteriorating


2 comments :

  1. A similar bridge in Washington, D.C. was converted into a pedestrian crossing and is now part of what is called the Capitol Crescent Trail.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My parents are from Vicksburg, use to watch the trains from this bridge with my grandfather. My Dad and I want to build a model of it for his model railroad. Looking for vertical heights and information on it.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment. I take a look at all comments before they are published to catch the occasional spam, so your comment may not appear right away. Thanks for reading Photography In Place.