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Fred Lynch
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.
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Jobs end for bridge toll takers

Posted Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at 12:00 AM

June 26, 1957 Southeast Missourian

Their jobs end Saturday morning. These toll talkers at the traffic bridge will be without jobs when the bridge becomes toll free Saturday morning. From the left, front, are Orville Boswell, Robert Thomas, W.M. Ferguson and Charles Etherton. At the back, Claude Miller, Harry Rabe, Russell Miller and E.N. Blumer. (G.D. Fronabarger photo)

The Cape Special Road District managed the bridge from 1946 to 1957. In those 11 years, tolls paid amounted to $3,952,129.

The highest annual income was in 1953 with $427,141 collected on 885,733 crossings.

When the bridge opened in 1928, the rates were published in the newspaper:

"The toll for an automobile and driver is $1, and for a round trip made the same day there is a special rate of $1.25. The charge for each additional passenger is 10 cents for the one-way trip and 20 cents for the round trip. The charge for a pedestrian is 20 cents for a one-way trip, with no reduction for the round trip."

Previous blog:

Bridge toll house razed

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  • I wonder what the life expectancy of a pedestrian on the bridge was?

    -- Posted by ksteinhoff on Wed, Jun 5, 2013, at 1:25 AM

  • I walked across it once because I wanted to take a picture of the riverfront. Don't know my exact life expectancy, but it's at least 68.

    -- Posted by Astowick on Fri, Jul 31, 2015, at 3:52 PM

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