The Hudson Toll Bridge was built in 1913, and it closed in 1951 after a new US-12 bridge was built one-half mile downstream. Today, people refer to the bridge as the Old Toll Bridge.
The river crossing consisted of a short bridge on the Wisconsin side of the Saint Croix, a half-mile long causeway, and then a spindly structure over the main channel. This structure had a very steep steel ramp, a truss section over the main channel, and another very steep steel ramp going up the hill on the Minnesota side. While the causeway is still in use, the main channel bridge was tore down shortly after it closed in 1951. The piers still exist, and the approach road still exists on the west side.
Old timers recall that Ford Model T cars often had a hard time climbing the bridge on the Minnesota side. Those cars had a transmission with metal bands. As the bands wore down, they would begin to slip. Drivers often found that they could back up the hill since reverse was used much less and the reverse band in the transmission would not be wore down quite as far.
