Where the river turns a thousand tales... Any story about Cape Girardeau has to feature the Mighty Mississippi River, and any story about Cape Girardeau and the river has to feature what has become one of Cape Girardeau's dominate architectural images: The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.
While architects may ramble off statistics (such as those below from Wikipedia), the visual majesty of the structure is what captures the attention of visitors and, yes, even locals who see it regularly.
Connecting Cape Girardeau, MO, and E. Cape Girardeau, Il, via Missouri highways 34 and 74 and Illinois 146, the towering bridge is visible from Main Street in Cape. Framed by the Common Pleas Courthouse to the right, the river and floodwall to the left, a driver going south on Main Street cannot help but stare right at the bridge.
"The bridge is named after Bill Emerson, a Missouri politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 until his death in 1996. Planning for the four-lane structure began in June 1987, and construction began in late 1996. Several factors have been blamed for the bridge's many delays in planning and construction, including Illinois' reluctance to participate in the project, as well as issues with the bedrock of the river (this resulted in the hiring of a new contractor)," according to Wikipedia.
Really, now that you have seen the bridge, is it any wonder that our logo is based on it? Riverbend Realty is proud of our region's river heritage, and that is reflected in our company name and our logo's primary color!
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