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1975 Lyons-Fulton High Bridge Demolition Historical Photo & Scrapbook Album
Fascinating vintage photographic scrapbook documenting the Lyons-Fulton High Bridge over the Mississippi River between Clinton, Iowa and Fulton, Illinois, with extensive material relating to the historic bridge's 1975 demolition.
The original Lyons-Fulton High Bridge opened on July 4, 1891 and later became an important Mississippi River crossing for the Lincoln Highway and U.S. Route 30. After serving the region for more than eight decades, it was replaced by the new bridge in 1975 and the old structure was subsequently dismantled and demolished with explosives.
Album Contents Include:
• Numerous apparent original photographs of the historic Lyons-Fulton High Bridge
• Photographs showing the bridge before and during demolition
• Multiple images showing individual bridge spans dropping or partially submerged in the Mississippi River
• Photographs capturing explosions, smoke and various stages of the demolition process
• Contemporary newspaper clippings documenting the removal of the bridge
• “First Span Dropped” newspaper coverage
• “Sausages Used In Destruction Of Piers” article describing explosive demolition of the remaining stone piers
• Material discussing C-4 / RDX-type explosive charges and demolition methods
• Period business card for an explosives contracting company
• Two 20-cent bridge toll receipts/tickets associated with the Clinton, Iowa Mississippi River crossing
• Additional vintage photographs of boats, riverfront scenes, local structures, vehicles and people
• Aerial photographs of the Clinton/Fulton Mississippi River area
Several pages form a particularly compelling visual sequence showing the bridge intact, partially dismantled, collapsing and ultimately disappearing from the river.
The album itself is a vintage black photo album with metal corner protectors and a decorative crest on the cover. A small label inside the rear cover reads “Made in Japan.”
This is an unusually focused piece of Clinton, Iowa / Fulton, Illinois local history and would be especially appealing to collectors and researchers interested in:
Lyons-Fulton High Bridge • Lincoln Highway • Mississippi River history • Clinton Iowa • Fulton Illinois • bridge engineering • historic demolition • transportation history • explosives engineering • industrial archaeology • vintage photography
Rather than being assembled from modern reproductions, the album appears to have been created during or shortly after the period represented and contains a mixture of photographs, clippings and contemporary ephemera.
Please review all photographs carefully. The album is being sold intact as found, with the photographs and ephemera remaining mounted in their original positions.
We strongly encourage you to thoroughly read the condition details above and to view all of the photos before purchasing, as these photos describe the item most accurately. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will get back to you as soon as we can. All orders are packaged properly and promptly shipped from Las Vegas, NV, USA.
Thank you for your interest; please take the time to view all of the items within our Curiodditiesstore, as we have a wide variety of items including antiques, books and magazines, collectibles, music, toys, and many other vintage rarities and obscurities. We will combine shipping costs, just ask!
