Railroads were vital to early residents for receiving goods and moving local produce to market. The first train into Portland arrived in November 1869. By 1881, in addition to freight trains, six passenger trains ran daily, three in each direction. This steel bridge was in use by 1881, replacing the wooden bridge built in 1869. When ice jams and spring floods threatened the bridge, loaded railroad cars were pushed onto it to hold it in place. The last train through Portland crossed this bridge in 1984.