The stately span over Siuslaw Bay opened in 1936 and almost immediately completed a flip-flop of fortunes for the young town and its one-time rival, Cushman (nee Acme), five miles upriver. The bridge routed the new Coast Highway through Florence, which drew investors, tourists and prosperity to the riverfront town that began in the 1870s with a couple of salmon canneries. The bridge is one of five grand spans along the Coast designed by famed Oregon bridge-builder Conde B. McCullough, who called them the “jeweled clasps in a wonderful string of matched pearls” on the new Coast Highway. Today, few travelers realize it’s actually a drawbridge; the center section can be raised to allow tall ships to enter the river–once a necessity during the bay’s busier times but seldom used now.