Pivot Point Park
Pivot Point Interpretive Plaza in Yuma, Arizona, preserves and interprets the site where the Southern Pacific Railroad first entered Arizona in 1877, on the alignment of present-day Madison Avenue.
Here the railroad built a swing bridge across the Colorado River that pivoted on the large concrete foundation still visible today. The bridge could swing open so the stern-wheel paddle steamers traveling up from the Sea of Cortez could continue upriver. It carried wagons and pedestrians as well as trains.
The bridge’s completion is one of Yuma’s best stories. The Army commander at Fort Yuma tried to block the railroad, posting a guard on the bridge on the night of September 29, 1877. After the guard left, the crews worked through the night, and shortly after sunrise on September 30 the first locomotive steamed into Arizona.
Three swing bridges eventually stood at this crossing. The plaza’s centerpiece is a restored 1907 Baldwin steam locomotive, Southern Pacific No. 2521, donated to the City of Yuma in 1957. After dark, a laser display traces the path of the original bridge tracks across the river.
For more information about the Park, visit these links:
