Taylor's Bridge

The town at Taylor's bridge was renamed to sell it. The railroad made Eagle Rock a division point and then, in 1887, moved its shops to Pocatello, and the town nearly emptied. Land promoters argued that a name promising water would draw farmers, and in 1891, not the sign's 1890, Eagle Rock became Idaho Falls. There was no waterfall then, only rapids where the river narrowed below the bridge. The white water the city is known for came in 1911, when a diversion wall built for the municipal power plant turned the rapids into falls.

What the plaque says

Taylor's Bridge Idaho's earliest toll bridge spanned Snake River at this rocky site in 1865, replacing Eagle Rock Ferry, 9 miles upstream. James Madison Taylor (a relative of Presidents Madison and Taylor and a founder of Denver, Colorado) settled here in 1864 to develop an improved route for his freight line from Salt Lake to Montana's new gold mines. After his bridge was built, telegraph service reached here, July 16, 1866, and Eagle Rock (as Idaho Falls was known until 1890) became a regional transportation center. A railroad bridge was built adjacent to Taylor's bridge in 1879. 223 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Menan Buttes — 21 mi
  Two volcanoes built where lava ran into the Snake River, and one of them open to walk around the rim.

More markers nearby

• Eagle Rock Ferry — steps away
• Elephant Hunters — 16 mi
• Lava Formations — 17 mi
• Menan Buttes — 23 mi