Ghost Town Suspension Bridge - Regency, TX - Roadside Attractions on Waymarking.com

The first bridge on this site was built in 1903. That structure, a traditional truss bridge, lasted only 23 years – practically a blink of an eye when it comes to public infrastructure typically designed to last a half-century or more.

Unfortunately, what the first bridge’s builder surely considered impossible happened on May 9, 1924 when a rancher and his two sons pushed a herd of cattle across the bridge. The structure gave way under the weight of the livestock and fell to the river below. The father and one son managed to make it to the other side. But the other boy, only nine, plummeted to his death along with numerous cattle.

The turn-of-the-century bridge had not been subject to a lot of traffic, but it was the only bridge for miles around, so Mills and San Saba county officials proceeded with having it rebuilt as soon as possible. With no state money used, a new bridge opened in 1931. All went well until the spring of 1936, when a torrential flood washed the second bridge away.

In 1939, the Dallas-based Austin Bridge Co. won the contract to erect a third suspension bridge at a cost of $30,000. Workers earning 30 cents an hour added concrete to the earlier bridge’s piers to raise it above flood stage and hand-strung the 475 lengths of wire forming each of the four cables that suspend the bridge over the river.

Ninety percent of the work was done by hand. The rest took only one gasoline-powered concrete mixer, a winch truck and a steam shovel.

The bridge is supported by four 3.25-inch thick steel cables connected to two welded-steel towers on each side of the river. The main span is 343 feet long, but counting the approach spans, engineers list the bridge’s overall length at 403 feet. The wooden deck of the bridge is 16 feet across.