For the July Unseen STL History Talks, we heard from Dan Fuller from Bellefontaine Cemetery and Amanda Clark from the Missouri History Museum, who brought to life many lesser-known aspects of James Buchanan Eads's life and the history of the Eads Bridge.
James Buchanan Eads and his colleagues
Dan Fuller began the evening with a talk that highlighted the contributions of James Buchanan Eads and the collective effort behind the creation of the Eads Bridge. He emphasized Bellefontaine Cemetery’s connection to numerous individuals involved in the bridge's construction. He highlighted the collaborative nature of the project, mentioning key figures like William Chauvenet, who verified Eads' engineering calculations, and Henry Flad, a close associate and fellow engineer.
Dan also touched upon the financial and political backing necessary for the bridge's construction, showcasing individuals like William McPherson and Hudson Bridge.
You can view his slides below:
Beyond the bridge
Amanda Clark discussed the opening of the bridge and the elephant, explaining that people were wary of crossing the structure at first (but elephants, it was said, would never walk across anything unsafe.)
She then highlighted Eads' ventures beyond the bridge, particularly his innovative jetties project at the Port of New Orleans, which transformed the port by controlling silt deposition and allowing a deep enough channel for shipping, as well as Eads' ambitious but unrealized ship railway project in Mexico that predated the Panama Canal.
But she took us beyond the life of Eads as well, describing things such as the role of Eads Bridge during the 1917 race massacre in East St. Louis. She also told us about Charlie, a toll booth worker on the bridge who became a local celebrity with his daily jokes and festive attire until the day the bridge no longer collected tolls.
You can view her slides below:
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Unseen STL History Talks: All about Eads and His Bridge