A Trip down The Wabash in Old Postcards

Terre Haute (5)

The next set of postcards from Terre Haute show the Wabash River Bridge...

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.

Wabash River Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.

This postcard, posted in Terre Haute on May 6th, 1908, has no other printed text. I have another copy of this postcard that has a hand written date of August 20th, 1906.

Wabash River Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.

This postcard, the place the postcard was posted is unreadable but the date was September 23rd, 1906, has the printed text...

E. L. Godecke, Publisher, Terre Haute, Ind.
Private Mailing Card
(Authorized by Act of Congress of May 10, 1898)
("Postal Card - Carte Postale")

Wabash River Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.

This postcard, posted in Terre Haute on January 27th, 1908, has no other printed text. I have another copy of this postcard that was post stamped twice, once in Momence (the rest is unreadable) and again in San Antonio, Texas on October 24th, 1906, has no other printed text. These postcards have a matte finish. I have yet another copy of this postcard, with an unreadable post stamp, that has a glossy finish.

Wabash River Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.

This postcard, posted in Terre Haute on December 3rd, 1907, has no other printed text.

Wabash River Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.

This postcard was stamped in Marshall, Illinois on January 12th, but has no stamped year. It has the printed text...

2
Published by I. & M. Ottenheimer, Baltimore, Md.

I have another copy of this postcard that was posted in Terre Haute on January 21st, 1910.

Wabash River Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.

This unused postcard has the printed text...

3
L. D. Smith, Terre Haute

Wabash River Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.

This postcard has the printed text, Pub. by Bundy, Terre Haute, Ind.
There is a hand written date on this postcard saying 2nd July 1907. I have another copy of this postcard that was posted in Terre Haute on August 28th, 1907.

Wabash River Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.

This postcard, stamped in Terre Haute on May 12th, 1909, has the printed text...

Made in Germany
Published by Bundy, Terre Haute, Ind.

I have another copy of this postcard that was stamped in Terre Haute on August 30th, 1910.

Wabash River Bridge, Terre Haute, Ind.

This postcard, stamped in Terre Haute on August 17th, 1909, has the printed text...

No. C 8366
Published by the Indiana News Company, Indianapolis, Ind.
Dresden Leipzig-Berlin
Made in Germany
ANC NY Leipzig Berlin Dresden Litho-Chrome trademark logo

I have another copy of this postcard that was posted in Terre Haute on April 6th, 1910.

This page created 3rd August 2009, last modified 4th January 2010