Most people who ever had an occasion to cross them remember the two bridges that, prior to the opening of the Ravenel Bridge, linked Charleston to Mount Pleasant. Toward the end of their lifespans the older of the two, the John P. Grace Memorial bridge, was a scary proposition for crossing the Cooper River. In fact, ten years before it was taken out of service it received only a 4 out of 100 in a safety rating.
Flickr/Hunter Desportes Driving over the old Grace Memorial Bridge (shown here on the right) was a real knuckle-buster. For most, from the moment they crossed the threshold from Mount Pleasant onto the bridge they would unknowingly grip the wheel so tight the knuckles on both hands where white by the time they arrived to the other side and dropped into Charleston’s “crosstown” area of Highway 17 South.
Flickr/Boston Public Library The Grace Memorial Bridge was the first in the pair of bridges constructed to cross the Cooper River. It opened in 1929 and was privately owned by the Cooper River Bridge Company. The President of the company was the former Mayor of Charleston, John P. Grace.
Flickr/Hunter Desportes It was a toll bridge and the fee to cross at the time it opened was 50-cents. It’s estimated that as many as 50,000 cars crossed the new bridge on its first day. The state of South Carolina purchased the bridge in 1946 and got rid of the toll.
Flickr/Hunter Desportes In 1929, cars were certainly skinnier than in more recent times. Crossing in an early model Ford was likely a very different experience than getting over this rickety old bridge in a dually or a passenger van in later years as cars began to swell and the bridge began to deteriorate. Watch this amazing video from Facebook user Andrew Doyle, taken with his cell phone in 2005 just before the closing of the Grace Memorial Bridge. (The music in the background on his radio is 96Wave playing “Church” and “Nirvana.")Did this scary footage bring back memories for you? We’d love to hear in our comments!
Flickr/Hunter Desportes
Driving over the old Grace Memorial Bridge (shown here on the right) was a real knuckle-buster. For most, from the moment they crossed the threshold from Mount Pleasant onto the bridge they would unknowingly grip the wheel so tight the knuckles on both hands where white by the time they arrived to the other side and dropped into Charleston’s “crosstown” area of Highway 17 South.
Flickr/Boston Public Library
The Grace Memorial Bridge was the first in the pair of bridges constructed to cross the Cooper River. It opened in 1929 and was privately owned by the Cooper River Bridge Company. The President of the company was the former Mayor of Charleston, John P. Grace.
It was a toll bridge and the fee to cross at the time it opened was 50-cents. It’s estimated that as many as 50,000 cars crossed the new bridge on its first day. The state of South Carolina purchased the bridge in 1946 and got rid of the toll.
In 1929, cars were certainly skinnier than in more recent times. Crossing in an early model Ford was likely a very different experience than getting over this rickety old bridge in a dually or a passenger van in later years as cars began to swell and the bridge began to deteriorate. Watch this amazing video from Facebook user Andrew Doyle, taken with his cell phone in 2005 just before the closing of the Grace Memorial Bridge. (The music in the background on his radio is 96Wave playing “Church” and “Nirvana.")Did this scary footage bring back memories for you? We’d love to hear in our comments!
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