I Street Bridge
About this property
The I Street Bridge is a historic metal truss double-deck swing bridge that crosses the Sacramento River to link the capital city of Sacramento, California, with Yolo County to the west. The California Pacific Railroad Company built the first railroad bridge across the Sacramento River at Sacramento. The first train crossed from Yolo County to Sacramento on January 29, 1870. After purchasing the California Pacific Railroad in 1876, the Central Pacific Railroad built a wooden Howe truss swing bridge in 1878, just upstream from the California Pacific bridge. Its swing span featured a trestle tower with stabilizing cables, a design feature used previously in the 1869 Mossdale bridge. It carried both wagon traffic and rail traffic on its single deck and single track, with flagmen at both ends to ensure safety. In 1895, a third wooden railroad bridge was completed, the culmination of a joint project of the Southern Pacific Railroad and the governments of Sacramento County and Yolo County that began in 1893. It was the first double-deck Howe truss bridge, with wagon traffic on top and rail traffic on the bottom. The swing span featured a trestle tower with stabilizing cables down to the lower deck. But the initial understanding of the counties was that the bridge would be built in steel, which led to much controversy and litigations that were finally settled by the Supreme Court. On February 14, 1910 the Southern Pacific Railroad, and the governments of Sacramento County and Yolo County again agreed to construction of a new bridge across the Sacramento River. Interest in the bridge was taken immediately by consultants, engineering groups, and concerned citizens, with many proposing designs and proposing locations regarding where exactly the bridge should be located. An example of this is reported in the Sacramento Daily Union, where an engineer from a firm in Kansas City, named Waddell and Harrington proposed a lift bridge instead of a swing bridge. This idea gained some popularity, with the Yolo County Board of Supervisors even voting in favor of the plans presented by engineering firm. The Board of Supervisors for Yolo County had delayed giving its full support for the bridge because of the lack of support given to the Northern Electric Railroad, in their efforts to construct what would eventually become the M Street Bridge. This was despite signing an agreement for the bridge's construction. Due to this lack of support, Southern Pacific threatened to build only the railroad portion of the bridge, and not the upper deck which would support wagons and eventually automobiles. Yolo County would finally support the construction of the upper deck on September 8, 1910, months after Southern Pacific started construction on the bridge.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was I Street Bridge listed on the National Register?
I Street Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 21, 1982.
What type of historic resource is I Street Bridge?
I Street Bridge is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for I Street Bridge?
The period of significance for I Street Bridge is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near I Street Bridge?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near I Street Bridge will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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