Date Original
1973-1989
Description
This collection contains the record of boat movement on the Arkansas River at the Rob Roy railroad bridge, and a set of operation instructions for the bridge.
Biographical/Historical Note
The Rob Roy railroad bridge is a lift-span railroad bridge in Jefferson County, Arkansas, northeast of Pine Bluff. In 1881, the Texas and St. Louis Railway sought to build a single railway line to connect St. Louis, Missouri, to Waco, Texas, primarily for shipping cotton to the Gulf of Mexico. Samuel Wesley Fordyce, Civil War veteran and a prominent railroad executive of the American South, plotted the proposed route through Arkansas, himself. Though construction was started in multiple locations to minimize delays, the stretch of railroad between Pine Bluff and Clarendon, Arkansas, saw greater delays due to many workmen contracting malaria. The company completed the route between Bird's Point, Missouri, and Gatesville, Texas, on August 12, 1883. A celebration was held on the Rob Roy River Bridge, where the president of the Texas and St. Louis Railway company, James W. Paramore, drove a silver spike into the railroad track to mark the occasion.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Jefferson County (Ark.)
Language
English
Identifier
MS.000185
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Rob Roy River Bridge traffic log, MS.000185
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Rob Roy River Bridge traffic log, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
