Terre Haute Postcards - Old Wagon Bridge
More postcards from my collection...
Old Wagon Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.
This postcard posted in Terre Haute on June 11th, 1906, has no other printed text. I have another copy of this postcard that was posted in Terre Haute on august 9th, 1906.
Old Wagon Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.
This postcard stamped in Farmersburg on July 7th, 1909, has the printed text...
Made expressly for S. H. Knox & Co.
Printed in Germany
Old Wagon Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.
This postcard stamped on 6th January 1911, contains no other text apart from the number 8902.
Old Wagon Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.
This unused postcard has the printed text...
165311
#88
Exclusive Project by the House of Photography
Robert W. Harvey with the help of Dorothy J. Clark, Local Historian
Historical Collectors Series
Covered bridge over Wabash river at the foot
of Wabash Ave. Built in 1864, it was replaced
by present bridge in 1904.
The image used on this postcard is a reproduction of a much earlier postcard.
Old Wagon Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.
This postcard, posted in Terre Haute on October 17th, 1910, has the printed text...
A-9958
Published Expressly for S. H. Knox & Co.
Made in U. S. A.
Old Wagon Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.
This postcard, stamped in Chrisman, Illinois on March 3rd, 1913, has the printed text...
A-9958
Published Expressly for S. H. Knox & Co.
Made in U. S. A.
Old Wagon Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.
This unused postcard has the printed text...
May '09
The Wabash Music Co., Terre Haute, Ind.
The Old Wagon Bridge stood from 1864 to 1904 when a new bridge replaced it. It was constructed as a covered toll bridge by the Terre Haute Drawbridge Company and the drawbridge allowed the passage of steam boats. Terre Haute Drawbridge Company comprised of local citizens with the following officers and stockholders: William K. Edwards, President; J.O. Jones, secretary; and William R. McKeen, guardian for the heirs of James Johnson. Trustees were W.B. Warren, Levi G. Warren and George W. Bement. It was purchased by the county in 1874 for $80,000 and made free. One of the board of county commissioners, Joseph F. Fellenzer, was instrumental in this move. A sign read "Keep to the Right. One Dollar Fine for Riding or Driving Faster than a Walk Over This Bridge." The bridge had been gone for 7 years before this postcard was posted.
In 1904, it was replaced with a steel bridge designed by Malverd A. Howe of Rose Polytechnic Institute and James E. Starbuck of Vandalia railway engineering department in Terre Haute. This bridge cost about $192,000, but the total project cost $271,200. This figure included the removal of the old bridge and the building of a temporary one to be used while the steel one was being finished. The bridge opened in 1905. Eight-seven years later, history repeated itself when two two-lane bridges, the Theodore Dreiser bridge and the Paul Dresser bridge, were built to span the Wabash and replace the old steel bridge.
This page created 26th August 2008, last modified 4th October 2009
