Snake River Bridge
National Register of Historic Places

Snake River Bridge

Lyons Ferry, Columbia County, Washington
Listed
July 15, 1982
Type
Structure
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
82004207

About this property

The Snake River Bridge (also known as the Lyons Ferry Bridge), is located on State Route 261 at the confluence of the Snake and Palouse Rivers, near Starbuck, Washington, USA. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and is located next to Lyons Ferry Park. It was originally constructed in 1927 and known as the Vantage Ferry Bridge, where it carried the North Central Highway over the Columbia River in Vantage, replacing a four-car ferry. By 1923, the ferry was transporting 50,000 people across the river annually, and it was clear that a bridge was needed to replace it. Originally planned to be a privately constructed toll bridge, it was strongly opposed by Washington Governor Louis F. Hart because it would be a toll bridge on a taxpayer-supported highway. Not only that, but the state also stood to lose $900,000 in federal funds for the North Central Highway if a toll bridge were to be built. Instead, the state approved funding for its own bridge. However, the construction of the Wanapum Dam downriver of the bridge in the 1960s flooded the town of Vantage, and state officials decided to replace the existing two-lane bridge, which had become unsafe for high volume traffic, with a new four-lane bridge. The old bridge was dismantled and put into storage. Meanwhile, at Lyons Ferry, crossings of the Snake River were done by ferry, but the construction of the Lower Monumental Dam caused the river to slow, thus increasing crossing time. State officials then decided to reconstruct this bridge at that location. List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Washington (state) List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Media related to Snake River Bridge at Wikimedia Commons Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. WA-88, "Snake River Bridge at Lyons Ferry, State Route 261 spanning Snake River, Starbuck, Columbia County, WA", 13 photos, 1 color transparency, 13 data pages, 1 photo caption page

Location

Lyons Ferry, Columbia County, Washington
46.59109, -118.22553

Categories

ENGINEERINGTRANSPORTATION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

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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Nearby Historic Sites

Bank of Starbuck
Industrial
6.8 mi
Canyon Grain Bin and Chutes
Industrial
8.6 mi
McGregor Ranch
Listed
11.1 mi
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Company Bridge 291.4-O.W.R.&N. Crossing-Washtucna
Industrial
11.7 mi
Bassett Hardware Co. Store
Industrial
11.8 mi

Nearby Battles

Wright's Horse Slaughter — Palouse Horse Herd (September 1858)
1858Indian Wars
12.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Snake River Bridge listed on the National Register?

Snake River Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 15, 1982.

What type of historic resource is Snake River Bridge?

Snake River Bridge is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Snake River Bridge?

The period of significance for Snake River Bridge is recorded as the industrial era.

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