Bridge disaster historical marker unveiled in Dixon

DIXON – Overlooking the river now stands a historic landmark commemorating the lives lost in the nation’s deadliest road bridge disaster and the change in safety standards that followed.

About 50 community members gathered at Presidents Park on Sunday to see the unveiling of a three-panel display on the Truesdell Bridge disaster of 1873, which killed 46 people and injured another 56 others as it collapsed under the weight of a large crowd that came to witness baptisms in the Rock River below.

“The bridge’s iron latticework pivoted like scissors, trapping or several injuring many victims, while the 15-foot truss imprisoned many under the water.”

—  Text from the Dixon Bridge Disaster display

Thursday was the 150th anniversary of the tragedy of the iron-lattice bridge, but the ceremony took place at 1:15 p.m. Sunday, to mark the same time and day of the incident.

Local historian and professional speaker Tom Wadsworth, who has researched the event for the last several years, said they wanted to recognize the national significance of the event.

“The Dixon bridge disaster is the worst road bridge disaster in American history,” he said.

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The newest riverfront attraction in unveiled in Dixon Sunday, May 7, 2023 at the spot where the Truesdell Bridge collapsed 150 years ago. (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)

The collapse shook the town as funerals took place for weeks, and the news was known throughout the country as it was reported by newspapers from coast-to-coast and in between.

As horrific as it was, the disaster led to the construction of better bridges and improved safety standards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, Wadsworth said.

“Only three weeks after the tragedy, the American Society of Civil Engineers formed a special Dixon committee to study the causes of bridge failures,” the display reads. “The two-year ASCE study led to several proposals to prevent bridge collapses in the U.S. The cause of the Dixon failure was ultimately pinned on faulty design.”

The display is a part of the city’s rich history, and it’s important to show respect to not only those who were killed and injured, but also the survivors and the countless individuals who joined the rescue efforts, Mayor Glen Hughes said.

“The bridge’s iron latticework pivoted like scissors, trapping or severely injuring many victims, while the 15-foot truss imprisoned many under the water,” according to the display. “In spite of many heroic rescues, bodies were constantly retrieved from the water. Days later, five more bodies were recovered as far as 10 miles downstream.”

The sign, which stands about eight feet tall and is just as wide, cost about $4,000 and was covered by the Dixon Chamber of Commerce and Main Street.

It will help educate community members and visitors about an important piece of Dixon history, and it shows the positive growth that came from it, said Jeremy Englund, executive director of Chamber Main Street.

A nine-foot length of pedestrian railing from the bridge, which was recently discovered, was also on display during the ceremony, and Pastor Bunyan Cocar of the First Baptist Church, the same church that held the baptism ceremony in 1873, gave the invocation.

Those part of the project include Wadsworth, Pat Gorman, Matthew Lenox, Lucas Pauley, Ron Pritchard and Geoff Vanderlin.

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