Josie W with Tow Leaving Tuscaloosa for Mobile, Ala, circa 1900

bridge Lib of Cong.jpg

Title

Josie W with Tow Leaving Tuscaloosa for Mobile, Ala, circa 1900

Subject

Railroads
Trestles
Black Warrior River (Ala.)
Railroad bridges
Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company
Towboats

Description

The Mobile & Ohio (M&O) railroad trestle over the Black Warrior River between Tuscaloosa and Northport is shown in the background with the Josie W. leaving for Mobile.

The M&O Railroad trestle is a wooden and steel truss bridge that was constructed across the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa for the M&O Railroad in 1898. Civil engineer Benjamin Hardaway, an 1887 graduate of the University of Alabama and former Tuscaloosa city engineer, designed the trestle. Originally 135 feet high with a 110 ft. clearance, it was once considered by many to be the country's longest trestle at 3600 feet. The designed included a passage for steamboats. The M & O ran between Columbus, Miss., and Montgomery. Until the M & O arrived, the Alabama and Chattanooga (known after 1878 as the Alabama Great Southern or AGS) was the area’s only railroad link.

In the 1930’s M&O Railroad became the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad and then the Illinois Central Gulf and then the Kansas City Southern.

Date

Circa 1900

Contributor

Betty Slowe (Description)

Type

Photograph

Identifier

1926

Coverage

Tuscaloosa (AL)

Original Format

Photograph