Digital Collections

In 1870, engineers Octave Chanute and George Mason published their account of the building of the Hannibal Bridge, the first permanent rail crossing of the Missouri River. Their text covers every detail of the project from its initial conception through its opening in 1869. The bridge helped transform Kansas City from a minor river town into a center of Midwestern commerce in subsequent years. In addition to a digitized copy of their book, its many drawings and photographs documenting the bridge’s construction can be viewed within this collection.