Royal Gorge Bridge

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The bridge was built between June and November 1929 at a cost of $350,000 (equivalent to $5 million in 2024 dollars), which was $100,000 over budget (equivalent to $1.4 million in 2024 dollars). The project was financed by Lon P. Piper, president of the Royal Gorge Bridge and Amusement Company of San Antonio, Texas. Piper hired George E. Cole as the Chief Engineer and the bridge was completed in about six months with no deaths or serious injuries. The formal opening occurred on December 8, 1929. Piper agreed to a twenty-year lease of the gorge and surrounding land, which is owned by Cañon City, paying a $1,000 yearly fee (equivalent to $14,300 in 2024 dollars) to the city, with a reduced fee of $500 (equivalent to $7,200 in 2024 dollars) in some years of hardship. In 1931, the 3 ft narrow gauge incline railway was built to the bottom of the gorge through a narrow cleft just west of the north end of the bridge. The first suicide occurred later the same year when a man, Verlyn Edward Bebb, from Pueblo, Colorado jumped off the bridge. In 1937, a lighting system was installed to illuminate the bridge and the gorge walls. In 1947, after struggling through the Great Depression and World War II, Piper sold the bridge and leasing rights to a group of local Colorado businessmen and Clint Murchison. A long-time employee stated that Murchison, who died in 1969, never visited the bridge he had bought. In the 1950s, a lodge was built by the gorge and the Silver Rock Railway 2 ft narrow gauge train with a Chance Rides miniature C.P. Huntington locomotive began running along the edge of the gorge near the bridge. In 1956, Murchison and his Royal Gorge Bridge Company agreed to pay the city a percentage of its revenue instead of the $1,000 yearly fee for the lease. The aerial tram was opened in 1969, crossing the gorge just east of the bridge. The bridge underwent significant renovations from 1980 to 1984, with new cable anchors and suspension rods installed and the bridge re-painted, costing over $2.8 million. The Royal Rush Skycoaster was opened on the south side of the gorge in 2003 just east of the bridge.

Reader's Guide

The Royal Gorge Bridge is significant as a historic engineering feat and a major tourist attraction in Colorado. It held the title of the world's highest bridge for over 70 years, from 1929 until 2001, and remains the highest bridge in the United States. Its construction as a tourist attraction, not as a through route for transportation purposes, set it apart from other bridges of its era. The bridge and its surrounding park have evolved over decades, adding attractions such as the Incline Railway, aerial tram, miniature railroad, and Skycoaster. The bridge survived a major wildfire in June 2013 that destroyed most of the park's buildings and the aerial tram, and damaged the Incline, sustaining only slight damage to its wooden deck with approximately 100 of 1292 planks requiring replacement. The park was rebuilt and partially reopened in August 2014, with a grand reopening in May 2015 featuring new gondolas and a new zip-line crossing the gorge on the east side of the bridge. The bridge and the incline railway were listed in the National Register of Historic Places on September 2, 1983. Passenger vehicles are not allowed to cross the bridge.

Did You Know?

• The bridge was built in six months with no deaths or serious injuries.
• The first suicide from the bridge occurred in 1931, by Verlyn Edward Bebb from Pueblo, Colorado.
• Clint Murchison, who bought the bridge in 1947, never visited it, even after becoming sole owner.
• The bridge's wooden deck has 1,292 planks; only about 100 needed replacement after the 2013 wildfire.
• In 1999, the owner of the rail lines through the gorge tried to increase the air rights fee for the bridge from $200 to $750,000 per year.

Common Misconceptions (Editorial)

Some believe the Royal Gorge Bridge is the highest bridge in the world, but it held that record only from 1929 until 2001, when it was surpassed by the Liuguanghe Bridge in China. Others assume the original builder and long-time owner Clint Murchison frequently visited the attraction, but records show Murchison never visited the bridge after buying it in 1947.

Why It Matters (Editorial)

The Royal Gorge Bridge endures as a marvel of rapid, safe engineering—built in just six months with no fatalities—and as a testament to entrepreneurial risk during the Great Depression. Its ongoing operation as a central attraction in Colorado highlights how historic infrastructure can evolve into lasting tourism and community identity, despite being surpassed in global records.