Built in 1902 by the American Bridge Company of Patterson, PA, for $8,200, the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge is a cantilevered Warren through truss spanning 12 working railway lines, with local engineer J.W. Hoover in charge of construction and Mrs. Allie Moore becoming the first person to cross it on August 29, 1902. The 562-foot structure is one of the oldest and longest footbridges in the United States still in use serving railway facilities. It was placed on Springfield's Local Historic Register on December 10, 1973, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 2, 2003. In the 1990s, BNSF Railways sold it to the City of Springfield for $1. Rehabilitation began in 2001 to preserve the structure, with restoration funding secured from the City of Springfield, the Missouri Department of Transportation, Community Development Block Grants, and memorial paver sales by the Commercial Club of Springfield, while a community plaza was also created around the southern stairway at Jefferson Avenue. Costing just over $518,000, the work was completed almost 100 years after the footbridge was originally constructed, and during a centennial celebration on April 17, 2002, it was rededicated and reopened to the public. On March 1, 2016, decay found during a routine inspection led to the footbridge's closure once again, after which the city conducted a full evaluation and worked with the community on repair and renovation options. Federal and local funding, including Surface Transportation Block Grants, a twenty percent local match, and funds raised by the Commercial Club of Springfield, was secured for an expected $2.5 million rehabilitation, with work set to begin in 2020 during the 150th anniversary of the Commercial Street Historic District; upon reopening, the footbridge is to be handicap accessible and its views available to all.
