"Around the Delta.. a collection of random shots..."
We are soon to have a new Greenville Bridge...... If the immigration people will stop busting the illegal immigrants who are building it.... the longest span of cable stayed bridge on the Mississippi river.
Both bridges, the old one is now demolished.
Before the old bridge was built, a trip across the river was done by steamboat
and took several hours. Travelers going East to West would arrive in
Greenville on the C & G railway and make the boat trip then resume their
travel on the Missouri Southern at Luna. The old bridge was a hazard to river
traffic and was hit by more barges than any other bridge across the
Mississippi. Approximately 50 barges remain sunk at the old bridge site to
this day.
Before the bridge was built in 1940 A ferry
company provided transportation across the river into Arkansas. The trip
was arduous and took about 16 hours, one way. The ferry had to travel
upstream then back down to Luna where it docked and unloaded. This was a
very slow-traveling 11 mile trip.
A little history
for ya: Before Issaquena county was formed (1844) it was part of
Washington county and had a small town called "New Mexico" located
directly on the Mississippi River. It was the first county seat of
Washington Co. It was an important shipping port for agricultural crops
until the river claimed it about 1830. Nothing remains of the settlement
today which was located near present-day Mayersville. At that time the
county seat was moved upriver a bit behind Lakes Washington and Jackson, named
Princeton Landing, also directly on the river. It too became a bustling
little community and shipping port. It was located directly across the
river from Grand Lake, Arkansas. About 1836 the "Lake Washington and Deer
Creek Railroad and Banking Co." was incorporated and headquartered in Princeton.
It began constructing a rail line Westward to Lake Washington and Deer Creek to
allow for easier shipping of cotton to the port. The rail line was never
completed and they lost their charter in 1839. Tragedy struck Princeton
in 1838 when the steamship Oronoko anchored in the port blew a boiler killing as
many as 150 people on board. Many of the passengers aboard were immigrants
traveling from New Orleans Northward.
An early settler to the area was Janius Richard Ward, who built a large fortune in hemp, cotton merchantile and shipping. He built a 40-room mansion directly overlooking the river. At its peak Princeton had about 600 residents, 12 stores, a hotel, bank, private school and a livery. The county seat moved to Greenville in 1844 and by 1850 most of the town caved into the river. In 1858 the luxury mansion owned by Ward was also lost in a flood. The former thriving community was located near Carolina Chute (an oxbow lake) but nothing remains today.
The old store at Chatham, gone now
Farraday store sits empty for years now
Lake Washington area HIgher education center south of Greenville, DSU, MDCC & MVSU
Mount Holly, Lake Washington
REMEMBER STRAZZI'S IN GREENVILLE?
