There are several markers here. An information bulletin board is at each end of the bridge. Here I will provide the text referring to General Dean and not the bridge history, or area history which is also present.
County of Markers and Bridge: Clinton County.
Location of Bridge: 1st St. & Fairfax St., Carlyle.
Markers Erected by: The City of Carlyle; The General Dean Suspension Bridge Memorial Committee; the Carlyle Junior Woman's Club and the Illinois State Historical Society.
ISHS Marker Erected: 1976.
Text City Marker:
General Dean, a native of Carlyle was a prisoner of War for three years during the Korean War. Honored by the United States, General Dean received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Congressional Medal of Honor.
In 1973, the General William Dean Suspension Bridge was added to the Federal Register of National Historic Places.
Marker Text Bridge Committee:
In 1951, primarily due to efforts of a number of Clinton County residents and local legislators, the Illinois General Assembly appropriated funds to rehabilitate the bridge. At this time the structure was converted to a pedestrian bridge and the bridge deck width was reduced to six feet. On Veterans Day, November 11, 1953, ceremonies were held in Carlyle to dedicate and name the bridge the "General Dean Suspension Bridge" in honor to a one-time resident of Carlyle, General William F. Dean.
From the period 1953 to 1975 the General Dean Suspension Bridge again began to show signs of disrepair and deterioration due to lack of maintenance and no definitive link or responsibility to any public or private agency.
The City of Carlyle again assumed a role of caretaker for the structure and through administrative efforts petitioned for and succeeded in having the structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 15, 1975.
The "Historical" designation enabled the City to secure public funding for rehabilitation work for the structure in 1977, consisting of items of a maintenance nature, in the interest of public safety to maintain the structure in continued use as a pedestrian bridge.
In 1989, again due to concerted efforts of city administrators and legislative officials the Illinois General Assembly appropriated $250,000.00 to undertake major renovation and rehabilitation work on the structure. This work was completed in 1991.
The 1991 rehabilitation and reconstruction consisted of reconstructing the towers and abutments of each end of the structure and incorporating in the restoration, the brick corbelling effect at the top of the towers which had been lost over the years but was one of the original features. The work also involved installing new suspenders and connections from the floor beams to the main cables. In addition, a new deck wind bracing system was installed with the replacement of a number of floor beams and deck planking.
Future restoration work planned by the City will include the installation of a lattice truss on each side of the deck, which was a main feature of the original bridge.
Illinois State Historical Marker Text:
This bridge was built in 1859 at a cost of $40,000 and used for nearly seventy years. Previously, travelers at Carlyle crossed the Kaskaskia by ferry or on a mud bridge supported by logs. The Historic American Buildings Survey recognized the architectural significance of this bridge in 1950 and recommended its preservation. In 1951 the State Legislature appropriated $20,000 for restoration work. The bridge was named in honor of Major General William F. Dean, a Korean War hero and Carlyle native, in 1953. As of 1976 this was the only suspension bridge in Illinois.