Independence Bowstring Bridge

I learned about this bridge in the late 90s while looking over an old city map I'd managed to find on the 'net, noticing that Burns street actually crossed the Verdigris! I biked to that spot, expecting only to find the dead end, but was surprised to find the bridge itself. A very neat find! It's nice to see it represented as it is here.

Just cruising the INTERNET picking up information on the floods affecting Independence, Kansas.

My Family lived there from 1963 to 1968.

One of my brothers and myself (on a mutual dare) walked across the TOP of this bridge (on the bows) to the other side.

Back then....it was known simply as the "Old Condemned Bridge".

Someone spotted us...and called the police, we were nearly on the other side when they arrived...and we hurried to get across when they starting shouting at us.

Once across, we ran quite a long way up the river to the old spillway where we crossed back over.

We then made our way through the woods back to our home at Myrtle and East Second street. My mother would have skinned us alive had she ever found out about that stupid stunt.

Independence was a great town to live in, in those days gone by.

JMM