Cotter Bridge - Getting A Bridge in Cotter

Getting A Bridge in Cotter

Cotter was established in 1905 as a railroad town. The area used a ferry system to cross the vast White River, with the nearest road crossing being 100 miles (160 km) north in Branson, Missouri. The river would rise and fall very quickly, which caused the ferry to be very unreliable. Baxter County residents wanted a bridge, but were opposed to the use of toll to pay for it. Once it became apparent that the federal road U.S. Route 62 would replace Arkansas Highway 12 through the area, bridge interest reached a peak. The federal road would bring an economic boom to the tourist-themed Ozarks that had not been developed, but the funding was still not available due to Arkansas' lack of a central road authority. The state approved the use of toll bridges in 1927, as long as they became free upon payment of the debt. Judge R.M. Ruthven concealed a damning feasibility report from the Highway Commission, which would've resulted in the bridge being built elsewhere. Twenty years later, he allegedly mailed the report to the Commission anyway. President Calvin Coolidge signed the bridge into construction on May 2, 1928, and upon approval by the War Department, the bridge was contracted to James Barney Marsh.