The Merchants Bridge is a rail bridge crossing the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis

Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis

The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis is a terminal railroad owned by railroads in St. Louis, Missouri which handles traffic through its metropolitan area.-Components:It was founded in 1889 in a deal orchestrated by Jay Gould by:...

. It opened in May 1889 and crossed the river three miles (5 km) north of the Eads Bridge

Eads Bridge

The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Louis, connecting St. Louis and East St. Louis, Illinois....

.

The bridge was originally built by the St. Louis Merchants Exchange

Merchants Exchange Building (St. Louis)

The Merchants Exchange Building was a building at Third Street at Chestnut and Pine in St. Louis, Missouri from 1875 to 1958 that housed the St. Louis Merchants Exchange and hosted the 1876 Democratic National Convention....

after it lost control of the Eads Bridge it had built to the Terminal Railroad. The Exchange feared a Terminal Railroad monopoly on the bridges but it would eventually lose control of the Merchants Bridge also.