Piece of Mississippi bedrock from beneath the east pier of the St. Louis (Eads) Bridge, St. Louis, Missouri
date: label: date made
content: 1867
name: label: associated person
content: Fox, Gustavus
notes: label: Description
content: This stone is a memorial of one of the great engineering achievements of the 19th century—the construction of a bridge spanning the Mississippi River at St. Louis. Also known as the Eads Bridge in tribute to its chief engineer, James B. Eads, it provided a vital link between Illinois and the eastern states and St. Louis and the west.
label: Description
content: Eads sank his bridge piers to bedrock at a time when others thought that sand would be sufficient. From barges with cranes, masons laid stone on the framework of a caisson, pushing it into the sandy riverbed. The caisson of the east pier reached bedrock, “127 ½ ft. below high water mark and 80 ft. under sand,” in January 1871. Eads is believed to have sent this souvenir cut from bedrock to a bridge investor, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Vasa Fox.
label: Description
content: Gift of the heirs of Mrs. Virginia L. W. Fox, 1911
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, General History Collection
label: See more items in
content: Government, Politics, and Reform
label: See more items in
content: Souvenir Nation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Virginia L. W. Fox
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.012059
label: catalog number
content: 12059
label: accession number
content: 52309
objectType: label: Object Name
content: drawing
label: Object Name
content: rock
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: stone (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 3/4 in x 1 1/2 in x 3/4 in; 6.985 cm x 3.81 cm x 1.905 cm