The railroad arrived in Beardstown in the 1859, but that track ran along the river rather than crossing the river. The first bridge was installed just after the end of the civil war. At that time, a flurry of activity resulted in several other rail bridges being built across the Illinois River prior to the depression of 1873.

Until relatively recently, this was a swing span bridge. The swing span was removed and a lift span was put in its place. A lift span is much safer since the navigation path through the bridge is twice as wide. The span at Beardstown is normally in the up position except when a train is using the bridge. This minimizes the impact to river traffic. The lift span is operated remotely rather than having an operator on site.