February 12, 1938
A truss bridge built in the Montopolis neighborhood of Austin, Texas, in Travis County was dedicated during a Saturday ceremony. The next day’s edition of the Austin American reported, “The huge span of smooth concrete and shiny steel was constructed to replace [an] old iron bridge washed out by the flood of June 15, 1935.”
This newspaper also noted, “The dedication ceremony, lasting 30 minutes, was attended by state, county, and city dignitaries, members of the Austin Chamber of Commerce and other citizens of Austin and of cities and towns east of Austin which the new bridge links to the Texas capital city.”
The principal speakers for this event were Judge George S. Matthews, who represented the Travis County Commissioners court, and state highway engineer Julian Montgomery. Both of them also held the ribbon as it was cut by two local girls, Juanita Bailey and Louise Davis, to formally open the bridge.
The Montopolis Bridge, which spans the Colorado River, carried vehicular traffic until 2018. This bridge has since been used as a crossing for pedestrians and bicycles. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. It is now part of the El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail. (The accompanying photo of the Montopolis Bridge was taken in 2103.)
Photo Credit: © Larry D. Moore (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Nv8200pa), Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en, Wikimedia Commons.
Additional information on the Montopolis Bridge is available at https://www.kut.org/transportation/2021-10-04/montopolis-bridge-in-east-austin-could-get-7-million-in-amenities-and-visual-improvements
Transportation History 
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