The historic Route 66 Bridge over the Meramec River links the history of Route 66, Times Beach, and Route 66 State Park. Route 66, named a federal highway in 1926, stretched more than 2,400 miles across eight states and became known as the "Mother Road," carrying millions of Missouri residents and visitors and representing mobility, independence, and adventure. Times Beach, named for the St. Louis Times newspaper and the beach along the Meramec River, began in 1926 when the newspaper sold resort-area lots for $67.50 with six-month subscriptions, but instead of becoming the advertised summer retreat it developed into a small middle-class town of about 2,000 people. In the early 1970s, after oil was sprayed on the town's dirt roads to control dust, the town faced an environmental crisis. Following a massive flood in early December 1982, many residents fled and most could not return after dioxin was discovered in the sprayed oil; EPA testing at the end of that month found extremely high contamination, and in 1983 the EPA bought out and leveled the town for cleanup. Soil sampling completed in 2012 found that the area no longer poses health risks to visitors or workers. Route 66 at first bypassed the Meramec River and Times Beach, but increasing traffic led to a new alignment in 1931, and the Times Beach Bridge, more commonly called the Route 66 Meramec River Bridge, opened in 1932. Built by the Frazier-Davis Construction Company from 1931 to 1932, it was the first bridge over the Meramec River constructed for vehicle traffic. It is a Warren deck truss bridge with concrete footings and pilings, a steel structure, and three 130-foot truss spans within its 1,009-foot length. The Warren truss is rare in Missouri, with only four such bridges still standing, and this bridge is the state's only three-span rigid deck truss structure. Running through Route 66 State Park, it once connected the visitor center to recreational areas, but the Missouri Department of Transportation closed it in 2009 and removed the decking in 2012, ending vehicle and pedestrian use. It remains a key feature of Route 66 history and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
