Jefferson City's First Bridge

Picture yourself in your easy chair after coming in from picking up your morning newspaper. You open the paper and in the boldest of headlines, "State Capitol Could Move to Sedalia". To a born and bred Jefferson City native nothing could be more shocking. You continue to read excitedly to find that both the Missouri House and Senate had approved a resolution, essentially unanimously, that would call for a referendum election that would take place in eighteen months at the general election in November the following year. The main provision of that election, if passed, would move the Capitol and all of state government from Jefferson City to Sedalia.

Follow the action between Sedalia and the City of Jefferson as each seek to gain or maintan the Capital in each of their cities. The action closely resembles a chess match where each participant seeks to gain an advantage which will influence the perception of the voters of the State of Missouri. Understand how much was on the line for the City of Jefferson and to what extent Sedalia placed their city in financial jeopardy to gain the Capital. The key element of the entire match was whether the City of Jefferson could start construction of a bridge within the tight time constraints and whether it could be finished as approved by the U.S. Legislature. Did the City of Jefferson really miss the required starting date and continued to build an illegal bridge? Only you can be the judge.

The book, "Jefferson City's First Bridge" is a 108 page coffee table book with 45 pages of a sequence of images, taken between August 1895 through April 1896, documenting the construction of the bridge which crossed the Missouri River between Jefferson City and Callaway County on the north. Those images are followed by a set of twelve images which represent many of the prominent events between the dedication of the bridge until its destruction in 1955. Those images are followed by a brief 20 page history of the circumstances and events which set in motion the construction of the bridge and an unparalled construction and building boom in Jefferson City that lasted nearly two decades.

The book, published by a local author will be available for sale by the author at various advertised events around the city. The events will include book signings, presentations of the history of the construction of the bridge and at other businesses and venues around the city. Provisions will also be made for sales to be shipped by mail. Please refer to the "Sales" page.