Fred Lynch retired in 2018 after capturing images for the Southeast Missourian since 1975, in that time moving from black-and-white to color, from film to digital and to video. The blog title is a nod to an earlier era of news photography and the 4x5 Speed Graphic: It's more important to be there for the shot than to worry about technical details.

Traffic bridge 1971

Posted Friday, February 1, 2013, at 12:00 AM

This picture of the traffic bridge over the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau was made by Steve Robertson.

The photo had a long run in the Southeast Missourian beginning May 1, 1971.

Readers could easily find short items in "All Around the Town" on Page 2 with this daily 1-column photo header.

The bridge stood for 76 years and was demolished in 2004, after the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge was opened.

A history of the bridge is presented in this previous blog:

Cape Girardeau Traffic Bridge

More blogs with photos of the traffic bridge:

Homeland security in 1942

Hands Across America

Arctic scene at Mississippi River

Walking across frozen Mississippi River

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The traffic bridge was one of Cape's iconic landmarks equal to Academic Hall, the Common Pleas Courthouse and the (soon to be gone) handball court. I can't count how many times I shot it over the years.

Here are some I could find quickly:

The last days of the bridge

http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/cape-downtown/cape-mississippi-river-...

Crossing the bridge was a rite of passage. Not everybody made it across safely

http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/crash-on-the-bridge/

A night shot is featured on my business card

http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/capecentralhigh-coms-business-card/

A time exposure of car lights crossing the bridge at night taken from the Illinois side

http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/cape-downtown/cape-bridge-at-night/

The traffic bridge with the new bridge being built alongside it

http://www.capecentralhigh.com/cape-photos/cape-downtown/down-by-the-riverside-2...

-- Posted by ksteinhoff on Fri, Feb 1, 2013, at 11:35 AM

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