The current Broadway Avenue bridge over the Minnesota River was built in 1931 and is the third bridge at this location. (Photo by Bobak Ha’Eri, 2009. Used by permission.)
According to a 26 May 2013 Mankato Free Press article by Nicollet County Historical Society Collections Manager Bob Sandeen, the Saint Peter bridge on Broadway Avenue, built in 1871, was only the second bridge to cross the Minnesota River. (The other bridge was a railroad bridge near Fort Snelling.) Prior to bridges, people relied on ferries to cross the Minnesota. The original Saint Peter bridge could turn 90 degrees to allow steamboat traffic to pass. It included a sign that read “$10.00 FINE FOR DRIVING OR RIDING ON THIS BRIDGE FASTER THAN A WALK.”