In her interpretive digital essay on “Water in Chicago” in the online Encyclopedia of Chicago History, Ann Durkin Keating points out that there have been several bridges across the Main Branch of the Chicago River at Rush Street, though none since 1920. The first, constructed in 1857, was a swing bridge that pivoted on a central pier in the river. While the opening of such bridges to let river vessels pass was an inconvenience and an irritant to those wanting to cross the river, they were far superior to the pontoon bridges and rope ferries used by early Chicagoans.
In order to construct the bridge, the river near Rush Street was straightened. In addition, Fort Dearborn, which was originally established in the first decade of the century when Chicago was a tiny and remote settlement, was removed. The fort had been of no military importance for over two decades, but it provided a tangible reminder of Chicago’s not-so-distant frontier past.
In November of 1863, an accident destroyed this bridge. A man intent on driving a herd of cattle across the river failed to halt when the bridge tender was preparing to turn the bridge to let a boat through. The tender continued to open the bridge with the cattle on it so that the boat would not strike it. The unbalanced weight of the livestock collapsed the bridge into the river. Among other things, this incident reveals how late into the century such animals were a presence even in the center of the city. Mrs. O'Leary and her cows lived less than a mile-and-a-half from the Court House.
A new bridge of the same design was in place the following year. This is the bridge on view here, as seen from the State Street Bridge. Both of these bridges were lost to the fire.
