Originally built as a railroad bridge for the Missouri Oklahoma and Gulf line, the Carpenters Bluff Bridge across the Red River has continued to provide a transportation route between Grayson County, Texas, and Bryan County, Oklahoma. Missouri Oklahoma and Gulf officials sought a line through Grayson County to connect with other railways and secure better freight rates for shipments from the Oklahoma coal mines. Under construction by 1910, the new line entered Texas by way of this bridge at the small community of Carpenters Bluff. Completed in the late summer of 1910, the bridge was designed to withstand major floods such as the one in 1908 that had destroyed several area bridges. Its design also included a wagon shelf, an extra lane for travelers on foot and horseback as well as horse-drawn vehicles, all of whom had to pay a toll to use it. In 1921, ownership passed to the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway Co., which maintained the line until 1965, when the company ceased operations in Texas because of declining rail traffic. The Texas and Pacific Railroad maintained the bridge briefly and then deeded it to Grayson and Bryan counties. County commissioners agreed to convert the structure for vehicular traffic, and after that work was completed, the bridge opened as a free public thoroughfare. Spanning the Red River since 1910, the Carpenters Bluff Bridge remains a significant part of Grayson County history.