Garrison Avenue Bridge centennial celebrated with Mayor McGill
In the past century, there have been two bridges from downtown Fort Smith to Oklahoma. The Garrison Avenue Bridge first opened in 1922. Before that, there were ferry boats for getting across the river.
This history was recognized in Fort Smith on Saturday for the centennial anniversary of the bridge opening. Mayor George B. McGill gave an official proclamation for the day's celebration.
Fort Smith Antique Auto club donated 10 antique cars for the event. Volunteers from the Fort Smith Museum of History dressed up as historical reenactors and gathered around the Old Frisco Railroad Depot on S. Second Street.
Carl Albertson, president of the Fort Smith Antique Auto Club, said that the older he gets, the more fascinated he is with the backgrounds in photos, old cars and the way transportation has changed.
"In order for the younger generation to see actually where they came from, we preserve the antique cars and enjoy them and let them have an opportunity to enjoy them," he said.
The bridge cost $1 million to build – though it was supposed to have been half that amount – thus earning the name "The Million Dollar Bridge." Most of the funding for its construction came from the state of Arkansas, with part of the funding from Oklahoma.
Prior to 1922, a modified railroad bridge allowed pedestrians and vehicles to pass for a toll.
The completed, free bridge spanned the mighty Arkansas River, connecting both states' borders during a time when automobiles and motorized transportation took off.
Caroline Speir, executive director of the Fort Smith Museum of History, said the bridge was quite a feat of architecture, engineering and design.
"It opened up not only Oklahoma, but the west," she said. "It was the end of the Albert Pike freeway. It was a huge celebration of about 20,000 people that day. I'm sure watching it being build was quite something."
Speir said it was important for the museum to honor the centennial anniversary of the bridge and include the Frisco Train Station because both reflected the city's progress into a modern era.
Al Whitson of the Fort Smith Historical Society gave a presentation inside the Fort Smith Museum of History on the bridge's construction, how a "bridge queen" was chosen to celebrate its opening and how the mayor at the time, Fagan Bourland was praised for his leadership on the project.
By the early 1970s the Garrison Avenue Bridge needed to be replaced. The old bridge was tore down for one that had more height for barges to pass underneath and the current bridge, known officially as the J. Fred Patton Garrison Avenue Bridge, was completed in 1973.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Garrison Avenue Bridge 100th birthday celebrated Saturday with parade
