The Old Railroad Bridge; More than a Landmark
THE OLD RAILROAD BRIDGE AT FLORENCE, ALABAMA
And the River Crossing
By William Lindsey McDonald
The old railroad bridge at Florence, Alabama is more than a landmark. It early became a symbol of the industry, commerce, and transportation that boosted the city in growth and prosperity. It bridged not only the Tennessee River but served as the connecting link to the other areas of the greater Muscle Shoals and to the other cities in the central and southern parts of Alabama.
Long before there was a bridge, its location was used as a river crossing. Creek, Cherokee, and Chickasaw Indians were observed using the Florence crossing at the mouth of Cypress Creek as early as 1787. This buffalo and Indian path ran from the Buffalo River about ten miles north of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, to the Big Spring at Tuscumbia, Alabama. This same path connected with other Indian trails leading northward to Nashville and beyond, and southward to the vicinity of New Orleans. Generals Andrew Jackson and John Coffee successfully used these trails during the Creek Indian Campaigns and the War of 1812 to shorten their military route by upwards of 200 miles. In 1817, a detachment of the U.S. Army improved this military road. It ran diagonally through the future town of Florence, Alabama and crossed the river at the mouth of Cypress Creek that became known as the Jackson Crossing. In 1916, this US Highway 43 was designated as the Jackson Highway in honor of the hero of the Battle of New Orleans who was responsible for its development from a series of Indian trails into a major thoroughfare. The Jackson Crossing came into considerable use after the U.S. Postmaster General issued a decree dated November 20, 1817. This memorandum authorized the pony express rider on the Natchez Trace to cross the river at the new site on the Tennessee River “instead of Colbert’s Ferry.”
A new ferry was established at about the time the town of Florence, Alabama was surveyed and laid out by General John Coffee and his assistant, Ferdinand Sannoner. This crossing was at the site of the Florence railroad bridge. Two of Florence’s prestigious founders, James Jackson, and John McKinley owned the interest in the north bank of the Florence Ferry. The third partner, George Cockburn, had the ferry rights on the south bank. Records show that by 1821, these proprietors were using a horse-drawn rig valued at $1,500, plus five blind horses, two good workers, and a boy. By then, Jackson, McKinley, and Cockburn were splitting their annual profits averaging $6,000, which was quite a sum for that period.
The original Florence Bridge was opened for traffic in 1840. It was the second structure to span the river in the area. The first bridge was short lived. Not long after its completion in the 1830’s, it was washed away by a high flood that was so common the Tennessee River until the coming of the Tennessee Valley Authority and its successful flood control operations.
The 1840 Florence Bridge was erected at the site of the earlier ferry, precisely where the railroad bridge stands today. The original structure had eight wooden trusses built upon rock piers that were so solidly anchored into the bedrock at the bottom of the river that they continue to be an intrinsic part of the railroad bridge’s foundation more than 150 years later. According to tradition, W.H. “Billie” Wade and an assistant named Davis built the wooden cofferdams used while the masons were laying the piers. According to the same sources, Billie and his brother, John Dickie Wade, were the builders of the earlier bridge structure that washed away.
The Florence Bridge was doomed to a series of disaster during its earliest years. It was severely damaged by tornadoes in 1850 and 1854. Traffic was reverted to temporary ferries in both instances. Following the second tornado, which caused even greater structural damaged than the first, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad Company purchased the site and the ferry rights. This company installed a steam-powered ferry to handle the traffic as they rebuilt the bridge. When the work was completed in 1860, the bridge was opened for the first time to three modes of transportation: pedestrians, horse-drawn vehicles, and steam powered railroad trains. The opening of the new railroad bridge became a watershed event in Florence. A railroad, with its freight and passenger depots at the foot of Court Street, had, for the first time connected the city with the outside world.
The bridge’s greatest disaster came early in the terrible Civil War. On March 18, 1862, Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston ordered Colonel Ben Harden Helm to burn the bridge “as soon as the enemy’s gunboats may pass Eastport or the enemy approached Florence from the north side of the river.” In spite of the pleas of the people of Florence, its vital connection link with much of the outside world was destroyed at the hands of its own government. U.S. General O.M. Mitchell reported as he entered Florence on April 13, 1862, that the Confederates had burned the bridge. The destruction of the bridge proved to be as much or probably a greater loss to the Confederacy than to the Federal Army.
A series of ferries was used at the river crossing for the next eight years. As strategic targets, these ferries were constantly threatened during the war years. Some were destroyed by the Yankees, others by the Confederate Army. Pontoon bridges were also used. The earliest on record was attempted by the U.S. Army, according to a report dated June 12, 1862. The most successful floating bridge made possible the crossing of General Jon Bell Hood in October 1864 on his way to the disastrous battles of Franklin and Nashville.
The most successful event for the city during the harsh days of the Reconstruction following the Civil War was the rebuilding of the railroad bridge. Florence, as well as the entire South, was on its knees; all hope for an economic recovery seemed beyond their reach. The decision by the Memphis and Charleston Railroad to rebuild the bridge not only restored the confidence of the people of Florence, it had a long-term economic effect on its future growth. The restoration of its railroad transportation led to what is known as the East Florence Industrial Boom of the late 1880s and 1890s. The city attracted more industry during this period than at any time in its entire history.
One span of the bridge gave way under a steam locomotive in early May 1892. Although the bridge was partially reopened to traffic after a few months, it took ten years for its complete restoration.
Probably the most colorful and enjoyable history of the Florence Bridge was the era of the street cars. These electrical modes of transportation began crossing the bridge on a scheduled basis in 1904 and lasted until the last run was made at midnight on February 3, 1933. No one who remembers those delightful rides will ever forget the high excitement of crossing over the high bridge in an open street car on a warm and bright summer day.
The demise of the Old Railroad Bridge began with the opening of the new O’Neal Bridge on October 26, 1939. Its fatal blow as a public transportation structure was in 1976 when TVA’s phosphate furnaces at Muscle Shoals were phased out. For all practical purposes, the closing of TVA’s phosphate mining in Middle Tennessee eliminated the freight traffic across the bridge.
In the Spring of 1992 the lift span of the old bridge was removed and relocated to Hannibal, Missouri. For a period of several years, the future of the main bridge structure looked hopeless. However, the Old Railroad Bridge Company, incorporated, was formed in 1990 for the purpose of preserving, restoring, and developing this historic landmark. Under the guidance, perseverance, and almost miraculous leadership of its President, Annette Faulkner, the future for this old structure has been obtained. This bridge which has been so great a part in the life of Florence will continue to exist as a landmark heritage for those who are yet to be born.