The Bagnell Dam Strip and the Upside Down Bridge

The moment Bagnell Dam was finished in nineteen thirty one, a tourist economy sprang up almost overnight at its foot. That stretch of highway became known simply as the Strip, and it is one of the oldest lake vacation districts in the Midwest. Visitors poured in from all over the country to gawk at the enormous new dam, then wandered the candy stores, souvenir shops, and arcades that lined the road.

Arcades along the road still rattle with old games today. Not far away stood one of the lake most beloved oddities. The original Grand Glaize Bridge, carrying Highway Fifty Four, was built in nineteen thirty one with its truss supports underneath the roadway instead of overhead, so drivers could enjoy an unbroken view of the water.

Everyone called it the upside down bridge. Its lanes were famously narrow with no shoulder, and it was finally replaced by modern spans in nineteen eighty four and nineteen ninety five before the old bridge came down. Between the neon Strip and the upside down bridge, the earliest days of lake tourism left their mark right here.