THE DOWNTOWN BRIDGES

The mainline of the Northern Pacific Railroad reached the Red River in 1871. The following winter the NP built the first permanent bridge over the river, creating the towns of Moorhead and Fargo at either end. In the beginning, the railroad bridge also carried pedestrian and wagon traffic, but crossing has dangerous and, officially, permission from the NP was required. In 1874, a wagon bridge was built below and just north of the railroad bridge, but it had to be dismantled every spring before breakup and then rebuilt. After years of sometimes bitter dispute, the cities built two permanent wagon bridges in 1883. The original NP Railroad Bridge was also rebuilt in 1883 when the wooden pilings were replaced with the massive stonework we see today. Like all Red River bridges built during the 1880s, the new NP bridge rotated to allow the passing of steamboats. The south wagon bridge crossed at the present site of the Main Avenue bridge. Although this bridge was in serious need of repair by the turn of the century, it wasn’t replaced until 1936. The 1936 structure was replaced in 2006 with the present Veterans’ Memorial Bridge.The Center Avenue bridge, a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project, was completed in 1938. It was rebuilt in 1987 and renamed the Bicentennial Bridge to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the United States’ Constitution. The original north bridge ran from Kennedy Street in Moorhead (just south of the present day 1st Avenue North) to NP Avenue in Fargo. After the turn of the century, this bridge also carried the Fargo-Moorhead Electric Street Railway’s street cars. The north bridge was replaced in 1930 by a span connecting 1st Avenue North in Moorhead with 1st Avenue North in Fargo. Although the old north bridge was torn down for scrap during World War II, the concrete-filled iron footings are still visible. Today’s 1st Avenue bridge was rebuilt in the 1980s to accommodate increased traffic.