Rush Street Bridges

Swing Bridge at Rush Street, c.1910s

Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-31904)

This undated photograph shows the State Street Bridge in the foreground and the Rush Street Bridge to the east in the background. Both horses and trucks can be seen on the State Street Bridge, so the photograph could well have been taken in the 1910s before the demolition of the Rush Street Bridge in 1920.

See also: Water

River Street (Wacker Drive) at Rush Street Bridge, 1914 or 1915

Photographer: Hornby & Freiburg
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-04671)

The Rush Street Bridge proved to be a serious holdup to traffic by the early twentieth century. On the south bank, Wabash and Michigan Avenues both fed traffic onto the bridge (Rush Street ran only on the north side of the river). The 1909 Plan of Chicago called for construction of a new bridge at Michigan Avenue and the redevelopment of River Street as Wacker Drive. Once the new Michigan Avenue Bridge was completed in 1920, the Rush Street Bridge was demolished.

See Also: Planning Chicago; Loop

Michigan Avenue Bridge, 1935

Photographer: Fred Korth
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-22457)

The Michigan Avenue Bridge, built just to the east of the swing bridge at Rush Street, was in the modern trunnion bascule style. A double deck sent commercial traffic to a lower level connected to improvements at Wacker Drive. The bridge was an integral part of the improvements presented in the 1909 Plan of Chicago by Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett. When completed in 1920, the Rush Street Bridge was quickly removed (and with it one of the last vestiges of nineteenth century bridge-building).

See also: Planning Chicago; Near North Side