A lithographic postcard showing the damaged Interstate Bridge after it was rammed by the steamer Troy. (Image: X-Comm.)
On this day in Duluth in 1906, the steamer Troy, piloted by Captain Robert Murray, rammed the Interstate Bridge at 1 a.m. The 398-foot, 3,665-ton vessel knocked a 200-foot piece of steel into the bay and buckled the northern span, which collapsed, blocking all traffic on the bay and trapping thirty-three ships inside the upper harbor. Captain Murray had blown the signal on the ship’s whistle to notify operators to swing the bridge open, but claimed he could not see the bridge well because of the structure’s lighting, which he said “kind of blinds one at night.” He explained to reporters that instead of slowing or stopping, as was required when the bridge failed to open, he didn’t worry that the bridge wasn’t immediately opening for the Troy, claiming “That seems to always be the custom of the bridge.” The collision did more injury to Murray’s reputation than it did to the Troy, but the bridge was significantly damaged. Clearing the channel took almost a week, costing each trapped vessel’s operators about $1,000 a day. Traffic for pedestrians, wagons, and the streetcars between Duluth and Superior came to an end as engineers spent nearly two years restoring the bridge. Read about the wreck and efforts to clear the damage here: Troy&IntBridge_8.11.06_DNT, here: Troy&IntBridge_8.12.06_DNT, and here: Troy&IntBridge_8.13.06_DNT.
