In a message dated 4/15/2006 11:15:02 PM Central Daylight Time, ihike4me@grics.net writes: The first bridge to be built across the Mississippi was at Rock Island near Moline, IL. in 1856. I would assume that there was also ferries that crossed the river before then. And after - the first bridge was a railroad bridge. It was seriously damaged by the steamboat "Effie Afton" a few weeks later in an "accident" that brought the steamboat lines and railroads to court. Representing the railroads was Abe Lincoln. I believe the railroads won the first round, the steamboats on appeal, and maybe the railroads in the next court, but not sure. There are to be some celebrations in September for the 150th anniversary. Not sure when the first car bridge came about - possibly in the 1890s when the Government Bridge, a two-level railroad (upper) and roadway (lower) bridge was built from Rock Island to Davenport across the tip of Arsenal Island (the original Rock Island), maybe a half mile down river from the original bridge site; the Government Bridge is still an active bridge. However, I think there were ferries running into the 1930s, maybe even later (I have a vague memory of one that may have run up to about 1960, but I could be mistaken), many of them were old steamboats (most of the ferry traffic was pedestrian as most people worked along the river and there were plenty of street cars and buses back then). Randy B.