The Hannibal bridge, complete with drawing bridge for steamboat passage, was the first bridge over the Missouri river and served the Cameron branch of the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad, not the Burlington railroad. It was completed June 15, 1869, just a hundred years ago. Before the Civil war strong rivalry existed between Kansas City and Leavenworth over the location of the bridge. Both towns were little more than villages and the citizens of both realized that a great metropolis would develop at a Missouri river crossing. Both towns were on the same bank of the river and about 25 miles apart. Both had begun rail lines to connect with a finished line at Cameron, Mo. Both had abandoned work during the years of the Civil war. Immediately after the war both towns sought the aid of Eastern capitalists controlling the Hannibal & St. Joseph railroad. Leavenworth, with a larger population, had the advantage of being near an important military post and was more advanced in rail development. James F. Joy, president of the Hannibal & St. Joseph (and at least four other rail lines) visited both towns to investigate the claims and merits of each. He decided in favor of Kansas City. A rail line also was built from Cameron, Mo. to Harlem north of the river, and for two years before completion of the bridge passengers and freight were ferried across the river to a big hotel and station house in the West Bottoms known as the State Line House & Station. One of Kansas City's most memorable celebrations was the formal opening of the bridge, July 3, 1869, when a huge crowd gathered on the bluff to watch the first train cross. An aged and excited Indian spectator fell dead as the big engine, belching black coal smoke, and with its gleaming headlight, chugged noisily over the water of the mighty Missouri. Anni Taylor Fisher, my grandmother, attended the event and told me this story. Kansas City Star, June 14, 1969.
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