CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KOAA) — Visitors have been walking across the Royal Gorge Bridge since 1929, and more than 26 million people have passed through its original admissions booth since the park opened.
The Arkansas River runs 956 feet below the bridge, which remains the highest suspension bridge in the U.S.
The idea to build the bridge came from a Texas businessman named Lon Piper.
"He basically wanted to use it as an amusement-type park," said Peggy Gair, who has worked at Royal Gorge Bridge & Park for 26 years.
Piper hired engineer George Cole to design and oversee construction. Cole is known as the father of the bridge.
"He built it with 80 men that were not engineers, um, they were just general laborers and they did it in 7 months," Gair said.
When the park opened, admission was 50 cents per adult and 25 cents per child ages 7 to 12.
The bridge spans a gorge filled with rocks dating back to the Earth's formation 4.5 billion years ago.
"They're what we call Precambrian rocks down there, and those are the beginning of the world rocks," Gair said.
The Royal Gorge area is also connected to the Jurassic era. A stegosaurus was found in 1936, about 8 miles northeast of the bridge.
"There are probably seven to eight different types of dinosaur skeletons that have been found," Gair said.
The bridge and park nearly came to an end in 2013 when a wildfire destroyed 90 percent of the park's 360 acres.
"I thought a bomb had gone off. I thought I was looking at war," Gair said.
The bridge itself survived. The fire claimed only 100 planks on the bridge's south side, but nearly everything else had to be rebuilt.
"Everything (on the south side) except for the theater had to be rebuilt," Gair said.
Fourteen months later, the park welcomed guests back.
"I hope they see the spirit of America here. These were 80 Americans with no skill but just a can-do attitude, and they were very proud of what they had done," Gair said.
You can watch all of our stories celebrating Colorado's 150th birthday on Sunday, July 5, after the game!
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