Cape Girardeau River Crossings
In the 1790s, the Spanish governor granted Louis Lorimier permission to operate a ferry service at Cape Girardeau.
Thereafter, ferry operators continued to shuttle people and products across the Mississippi River until 1928 when a new, privately built bridge ended the ferryboat era. Captain A.C. Jaynes was the last of these operators.
Located at the north end of the River Campus Terrace Park, the 1928 bridge operated first as a toll bridge and later as a state roadway. The bridge closed on December 13, 2003 when the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge opened.
Over 4000 feet long and 300 feet high, this cable-stayed bridge is designed to carry upwards of 26,000 vehicles per day and continues the vital and historic link between southeast Missouri and southern Illinois.
Marker can be reached from Aquasmi Street, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
