Virgin River Bridges Timeline
1916: First bridge across Virgin River, west of St. George, Utah was placed at St. Thomas, Nevada.
1917: Wooden bridge across Virgin River at St. Thomas burns down and is replaced with a metal bridge.
1921: Wood piling & steel bridge between Bunkerville & Mesquite dedicated March 18, 1921.
When the “Pile Bridge” was completed it was an event of great celebration. All the valley residents attended, along with many former residents. For the first time in history, the fickly and often treacherous Virgin River could be crossed without fear of flood, quicksand, damaged equipment, loss of time and worry. There was a huge “Bridge” party all day long with dancing well into the night. A “Golden Spike” was driven into the planks at the center of the bridge by Bridge Day Queen, Emma Abbott, of Mesquite.
1929: Harlow Dam at mouth of Virgin River Gorge collapses sending a wall of water which tops Bunkerville-Mesquite Bridge and within a few inches of Riverside bridge.
1929: The Sand Hollow Wash Bridge near Littlefield, Arizona is an historic Warren deck Truss bridge completed. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It was constructed by the Arizona Highway Department; James J. Burke
1931: New cement bridge replaces pile bridge between Bunkerville & Mesquite.
1935: Riverside and Bunkerville/Mesquite cement bridges open.
1975: Bridge between Bunkerville/Mesquite doubled in width.
Until the completion of the “Pile Bridge” in March of 1921, all traffic crossing the river took their chances driving through the river water and mud. In times of higher water, individuals living near the crossings made money pulling the automobiles across the river with teams of horses for charge of 50 cents. In flood stage, the automobiles would wait for the water level to recede enough to either be pulled or wait longer and drive across. Those who would not wait would have the option of their car being loaded on a wagon and pulled across the river. However, the cost of this deluxe method was a staggering one dollar.(About $30 dollars in 2025)
Virgin River Roads Timeline
1917: Arrowhead Trail recognized by a Los Angeles car club as the route through the Virgin Valley to Salt Lake City which popularizes the trail.
1919: The Nevada Legislature amended its newly adopted highway law to add SR-6, which was described as “Commencing at the Arizona line near Mesquite and running southwesterly over what is now known as the Arrow Head [sic] trail through Las Vegas to Jean, Nevada.”
1930: Construction begins on hard surface road between Virgin Valley and Las Vegas via Glendale & Dry Lake.
1932: Construction of hard surface road completed.
1935: US Highway 91 opens to traffic through Bunkerville and Mesquite and follows the old SR-6 route.
1955: US Highway 91 by-passes Bunkerville and moves to north side of Virgin River.
1967: US Interstate Highway 15 is completed which followed the old US Highway 91 from Jean, Nevada to Mesquite, Nevada. There the highway ended and motorists exited onto Highway 91 which follows the current Old Highway 91 road today.
1973: Virgin River Gorge portion of I-15 Completed and open to traffic. The 29.4-mile stretch of I-15 through the gorge cost over $48 million to build, averaging about $1.63 million per mile for the highway and its seven bridges. This was an immense engineering feat, as the area was largely roadless and required extensive planning and construction to build a modern highway through the dramatic gorge. This completed I-15 and motorists could drive from Canada to San Diego without interruption.
An interesting incident of taking cars across the river with teams of horses is told by Cora Leavitt, wife of Joseph Leavitt of Mesquite. It was just after the end of World War I and the flu epidemic was at its height in the valley. Nevada Governor Emmet D. Boyle and US Senator C.B. Henderson came to Mesquite for the valley’s first recorded visit by such high ranking officials. Cora relates the following story: “A big black car pulled up to the riverbank on the Bunkerville side. It honked, as a signal for someone to come pull them across. Cora obliged and soon had the automobile hooked up to her horses. She turned to the car’s driver and instructed him to turn his car’s engine off and not to start the car until they reached the other side of the river and she had unhooked the horses. The driver nodded his assent and Cora pulled the car across the river. Just as the horses were starting up the bank on the Mesquite side of the river, the driver started his engine. The noise spooked the horses and they took off, jerking the bumper off the car and leaving it and its two passengers in the river. Cora got the horses settled down and brought them back to the car. The driver of car was agitated that his car’s bumper was damaged. Cora did not flinch. She scolded the men soundly for not following her directions. She insisted they pay her the dollar fee for towing before she would hook her horses back up to the car and finish pulling them out of the river. The men, somewhat grumpy, paid the fee and were towed out of the river. Later that evening, Cora and her husband Joseph, went to a meeting at the school in Mesquite where Nevada’s Governor Boyle and US Senator Henderson were speaking. She instantly recognized the men and turned to Joseph and whispered, “I hope they do a better job for Nevada than they do in following directions.”
C.C. Boyer was the Nevada Division of Highways Engineer in charge of designing and building the roads from Las Vegas to the Arizona State Line at Mesquite. He designed the bridge between Bunkerville and Mesquite. He records in his writing that he was quite upset about the road from the Mormon Mesa to Mesquite via Riverside and Bunkerville. It was his desire and design to build the road on the north side of the river from the mesa to Mesquite thereby eliminating the need for bridges at all. He states that his plan was accepted by the state engineers and would have been completed except that a group from Bunkerville went to Carson City and raised hell, stopping his route. Although the road Boyer designed was built 34 years later, in 1955, it makes one think what would have happened to Bunkerville and Riverside if Boyer’s road was built and no bridges were put across the river. It most likely would have been many years before state and county officials would have allowed bridges to be made.