Singing Bridge

The historic Singing Bridge carries St. Clair Street across the Kentucky River in Frankfort, Kentucky.

History

In 1810, the Frankfort Bridge Company was chartered by the city of Frankfort to construct a bridge to connect the central part of the city to emerging developments on the south side of the Kentucky River. ¹ The first fixed crossing was completed in 1816 at the cost of $25,000. A flood in July 1834 caused the span to collapse and its replacement, completed in December 1835, collapsed just eight days after reopening, killing two pedestrians.

A double-width covered bridge opened in 1847. ¹ It was replaced in 1893 with a stronger iron Pennsylvania through truss. Constructed by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, it carried streetcars, horse-drawn buggies, and pedestrians over the river. It was nicknamed the “Singing Bridge” for the sound tires made over the metal grate roadway deck.

The Singing Bridge was designated a part of US Route 60 between 1926 and 1938. Lighting on the bridge was overhauled in 1992 thanks to a grant by the Kentucky Bicentennial Commission. ¹ The superstructure was rehabilitated in 1956 and again in 2010.