Chain of Rocks Bridge. Terrible crimes were committed on this old bridge in 1991. Two sisters were assaulted and pushed to their death. Four young men were charged with murder, rape and robbery. One has been executed. Another is on death row. A third was sentenced to life. The fourth served half of his 30-year sentence.
The bridge, which is on old Route 66, has been closed to vehicular traffic for more than 40 years. It looks so narrow, it's hard to imagine there was a time when spans like this were considered modern. Chain of Rocks Bridge has a bend in it, a design to make boat traffic safer.
When the bridge had outlived its purpose, the city of Madison, Illinois, (which owns the bridge) intended to tear it down but that was not cost effective. Today the bridge is one of the longest pedestrian-bicycle bridges in the world. Trailnet leases the bridge from Madison and works to keep the bridge a good destination.
There are pictures and background details at the links above. This link has pictures and a comments section. The comments are worth a few minutes' read if you are planning to visit this spot.
Chain of Rocks. A picturesque name. It evokes different pictures for different people.
The bridge, which is on old Route 66, has been closed to vehicular traffic for more than 40 years. It looks so narrow, it's hard to imagine there was a time when spans like this were considered modern. Chain of Rocks Bridge has a bend in it, a design to make boat traffic safer.
When the bridge had outlived its purpose, the city of Madison, Illinois, (which owns the bridge) intended to tear it down but that was not cost effective. Today the bridge is one of the longest pedestrian-bicycle bridges in the world. Trailnet leases the bridge from Madison and works to keep the bridge a good destination.
There are pictures and background details at the links above. This link has pictures and a comments section. The comments are worth a few minutes' read if you are planning to visit this spot.
Chain of Rocks. A picturesque name. It evokes different pictures for different people.