Eads Bridge, St. Louis, MO - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

The original name of this bridge was the St. Louis and Illinois Bridge but is now named after its designer, James B. Eads. A true nineteenth century engineering marvel, it was the longest arch bridge in the world when completed in 1874. It was also the first bridge to make extensive use of structural steel and the first to be built entirely with cantilever supports keeping the river open for steamboat traffic during construction.

James B. Eads’ professional life was intimately tied to the Mississippi River. He made a fortune running a salvage operation on the Mississippi River and its tributaries making use of a diving bell he designed himself. During the Civil War, Eads’ company manufactured ironclads which were instrumental in securing control of the Mississippi River for the Union. Having achieved success under the river and on the river, he then set his sights on spanning the river.

Not everyone was enthralled by Eads’ bridge design. Contemporary bridge engineer Jacob Linville didn’t think it would support its own weight. As a publicity stunt, a circus elephant was led across the bridge before the grand opening to demonstrate the bridge’s safety. (Apparently, it was a commonly held superstition that an elephant wasn’t stupid enough to walk across an unsafe bridge.) The elephant, countless storms and floods and 140+ years have all vindicated Eads’ design.

The stamp was part of the Trans-Mississippi issue of 1898. These were nine stamps issued in conjunction with the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition held from June 1 to November 1, 1898 in Omaha, Nebraska. Trans-Mississippi was a common term for the geographic area west of the Mississippi River and each stamp in the set showed a western scene. This stamp, the highest value of the set, shows the Eads Bridge with the city of St. Louis in the background. The bridge was an iconic symbol of St. Louis up until the completion of the Gateway Arch in 1965.

James Buchanan Eads was named after his mother’s cousin, James Buchanan, who achieved a modicum of fame himself by becoming 15th President of the United States.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 17-Jun-1898 Denomination: $2.00 Color: orange brown Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   10/06/2018 The Snowdog visited it 03/19/2018 YoSam. visited it 01/28/2018 petendot visited it

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