Hayden DunbarKnoxville News Sentinel
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Knoxville's Gay Street Bridge, which closed for repairs June 25 after a problem was spotted, has been a landmark for well over 100 years.
But its full history goes back much farther. A pontoon bridge across the Tennessee River was constructed in this area by Union troops in 1863, according to "The French Broad-Holston Country," a book of Knox County history. After the Civil War, the bridge was acquired by Knox County, but early versions were destroyed by a flood in 1867 and high winds in 1875, according to historian Robert Booker.
It was rebuilt by a private company and reopened by 1881 as a toll bridge. Ten years later, Knox County took charge of the bridge, and passage over the Tennessee River became free.
Building today's Gay Street Bridge
The version of the bridge seen today dates back to 1898, and was designed by Charles E. Fowler, then with the Youngstown Bridge Co., the Knoxville News Sentinel reported in 1940. County officials originally approved plans for a stone bridge, but due to costly bids, they began to consider alternatives.
Fowler caught word and traveled to Knoxville to pitch his concept, a steel bridge. "I remember that I drew a rough sketch of my idea on the back of an envelope on the train," he told the News Sentinel in 1940. The county purchased Fowler's design, and Youngstown Bridge Co. received the bid.
When Fowler began the project, it marked his first big design and building job, the News Sentinel reported.
More than a century later, in 2001, Ray Bell Construction Co. began extensive repairs on the bridge, and it was closed to traffic. It reopened in 2004, the News Sentinel reported that year.
"Ripping up the concrete deck on the bridge was like tearing through a history book," the News Sentinel reported in 2004 of the recent construction. "I removed eight inches of concrete, four inches of asphalt, two trolley tracks and some brick pavers and some railroad ties from that deck," said Jeff Walker, project superintendent at Ray Bell.
Legends, memories and infamy at the Gay Street Bridge
In 1903, the infamous Harvey Logan, known as "Kid Curry," escaped from the Knox County Jail across the Gay Street Bridge. Logan, a bandit and member of Butch Cassidy's "Wild Bunch" gang in Montana, had been hiding out in Knoxville when he was arrested in 1901, the News Sentinel reported in 2012.
A year and a half after his arrest, Logan forced his way out of the jail, escaping across the Gay Street Bridge on Sheriff J.W. Fox's personal horse.
As it was described by the News Sentinel in 1930: "Logan, the desperado, the bandit, the killer, rode around the hill, and across the Gay Street Bridge. He was free at last."
When the Henley Street Bridge opened nearby in 1932, the News Sentinel staff was determined to find out how traffic was distributed between it and the older Gay Street Bridge. "Two News-Sentinel reporters, a la Horatius, stood at the bridges - eating bananas - and tho they did not attempt to say 'They shall not pass,' they counted all who did - on each."
While far more cars traversed the Henley Street Bridge in the hour they watched - 936 on Henley compared to 359 on Gay - the article concluded novelty could very well be a factor, so no final verdict could be made.
One light pole on the Gay Street Bridge - the third light from the north end - caused problems during the early 2000s bridge repairs, sparking memories of a longtime local ghost story, the News Sentinel reported in 2004. As the tale goes, a man wrongly convicted of murder was sentenced to be hanged from the third lantern on the bridge (presumably sometime before official public hangings ceased in 1908).
Before his death, he insisted there would be a sign on the bridge if he were innocent. Legend says the third light on the bridge never burned, and even years later, the Ray Bell crew had to work on the light three times before it worked.
In total, repairs during the early 2000s cost over $15.6 million, the News Sentinel reported in 2004. The bridge has passed every inspection since, with no closures required due to safety concerns following that time - until 2024, the city said in the June 25 release announcing the abrupt new shutdown.
Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email hayden.dunbar@knoxnews.com.
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