On This Date In Twin Cities History - July 1, 1931

On this date in 1931, the Interstate Bridge (Lift Bridge) in Stillwater opens replacing the wooden Stillwater-Houlton bridge built in 1876. The Lift Bridge featured a counter-weighted, tower-and-cable lift span, and included nine steel trusses, in all spanning 1,050 feet. The dedication ceremony for the bridge was presided over by then Minnesota Governor Floyd B. Olson. The first person to cross the bridge was a young Topper Jackson of Stillwater, who bicycled across as soon as the barriers were taken down at 10:05 a.m that day. Built at a total cost of $460,000, it averaged 18,000 vehicle crossings a day. The bridge was officially closed to traffic on August 2, 2017 and is now used as a pedestrian bridge.