TBT – Monarch Bridge

The Monarch Bridge, constructed in 1909, served as the main vehicle and pedestrian crossing in and out of the Monarch Coal Mining Camp to the railroad lines on this side of the Tongue River. Monarch was one of Wyoming’s largest early 20th-century coal mining operations and home to almost 1,000 people.

On the right side of the bridge, note the remnants of a rail trestle that carried coal cars from the mine to the “tipples” on this side of the river. Each was loaded by hand with two to three tons of coal. Up to 100 cars a day crossed the bridge from the mine to the tipple and back. The coal was then shipped within Wyoming and across the United States.

From 1903 to 1951, approximately 4.8 million tons of coal were removed from the underground coal deposits at the Monarch mine, making it one of the most productive mines in early Wyoming history.

According to the Wyoming Department of Transportation, this was the oldest bridge of its kind remaining in active use in all of Wyoming. Even after the Monarch mine was shut down in 1953 and the community was abandoned, this bridge still served as the main crossing point of the Tongue River in this portion of the County.

By 2022, the bridge was no longer viable to repair, so the decision was made to replace it with a bridge of modern construction and materials. In June of 2024, it was decommissioned and moved to a site nearby on the north side of the Tongue River. The contractor also removed a historic mine cart from the river and placed it next to the bridge.