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Historic place

Chain of Rocks Bridge

10820 Riverview Dr, St. Louis, MO

This mile-long Route 66 crossing bends sharply in the middle, because of a water intake and riverbed rock that couldn't carry the bridge's weight.

📅 1929–present🏛️ LandmarkStill here
Open on the mapSlide back to 1929
Chain of Rocks Bridge, 10820 Riverview Dr, St. Louis, MO
Chain of Rocks Bridge, St. Louis (2009) · Carol M. Highsmith, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The story

The Chain of Rocks Bridge was built privately as a toll bridge and opened to traffic in July 1929. Its unusual mid-river bend was forced on the builders by a water intake and by bedrock that couldn't support the structure. In 1936 U.S. Route 66 was rerouted over the bridge.

A new bridge opened nearby in 1967, and the old one was closed soon after. For nearly three decades demolition looked like its most likely fate. In 1998 it was leased to Trailnet, and in 1999 it reopened as part of the Route 66 Bikeway. It now carries only walkers and cyclists.

Everything that was here

Did you know?

The bridge was a filming location for "Escape from New York" (1981).
Sources disagree on the bend: Wikipedia says 22 degrees, and the National Park Service says 30.
Its total length is 5,353 feet, more than 60 feet above the Mississippi.

Nearby history

Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

10800 Riverview Dr · 490 m away

Chain of Rocks Amusement Park

10820 Riverview Dr · 711 m away
Perched on the bluffs beside the crooked Chain of Rocks Bridge, the park hosted half a century of school picnics.

Luna Cafe (Prohibition Era)

201 East Chain of Rocks Road · 7.5 km away

Luna Cafe

201 E Chain of Rocks Rd · 7.8 km away

Jamestown Mall

175 Jamestown Mall Drive · 9.2 km away

Jamestown Mall

239 Jamestown Mall · 9.2 km away

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Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_of_Rocks_Bridge