Throwback Thursday: Connecting Seattle to the Eastside
Oct 1, 2015, 2:38 PM | Updated: 9:38 pm
The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, shown here on Aug. 28 1943, was originally proposed by Homer Hadley in 1921. The bridge would eventually sink and be rebuilt. (Seattle Municipal Archives)
(Seattle Municipal Archives)
Wow your friends with this tidbit: On this day in 1921, engineer Homer Hadley formally proposed a concrete pontoon floating bridge across Lake Washington. And hence, easy access to the Eastside was born.
The bridge opened on July 2, 1940 to “great fanfare,” according to historylink.org. It was the world’s longest floating bridge.
Originally called the Lake Washington Floating Bridge (also Mercer Island Bridge), it was later re-named the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge.
Homer Hadley finally got some recognition for his work to connect Seattle with the east side when the bridge adjacent to the Memorial Bridge used for I-90 westbound traffic was dedicated as the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge.
The Lacey V. Murray Bridge sank in 1990 and was rebuilt in 1993. The video below shows KING 5’s coverage of the dramatic sinking.
