You’d Never Heard of Taylor Swift or Facebook When This Opened, Believe It or Not

My Dad was the Friday Santa Claus at Holiday World for about a decade. He loved it so much that he stayed on the job through his final Christmas season, which was 2004. He passed away in January of 2005.

I bring him up because it stunned me recently to learn that he didn't always need to use his favorite route from Owensboro to Santa Claus, Indiana, a circuitous trek through Grandview, then across Indiana 70, through Lamar, and then Santa Claus.

The William Natcher Bridge

The arrival of the William Natcher Bridge (my sister and I lovingly refer to it as the "lava lamp bridge") changed all that. Except, in my memory, I didn't realize that it opened in plenty of time for him to use it to get to work.

I couldn't believe how long it's been since it opened. For the longest time, I was thinking 2005, but no. The increasingly invaluable Natcher Bridge accepted its first motorists on October 21st, 2002. Its concept was born in 1987.

That was the early part of the Bush Administration. That was before YouTube and Facebook. That was before Taylor Swift came warbling out of your speakers. (She was a 12-year-old Pennsylvania middle-schooler at the time.)

That's right...24 freakin' years since that thing opened, and, boy, has it been a godsend these last six months with the blue bridge closed. (It is now reopened.)

How the Natcher Bridge Changed Travel Times

I alluded to this earlier, but the Natcher Bridge has seriously cut down the time it takes to get to Holiday World. The first time I used it get there, I couldn't believe how quickly I arrived.

You know, I've always had a vision of Santa Claus, Indiana, becoming this big resort town, centered around Holiday World. Hotels dotting the landscape up and down the U.S. 231 corridor...that sort of thing.

I was also crossing my fingers when former Owensboro Mayor Ron Payne outlined how an Interstate 67 could run through the city, eventually connecting to the bridge and that corridor. Obviously, it didn't come to pass.

But if ever there was a four-lane bridge that could easily segue into being part of an interstate highway, it's the William Natcher Bridge, our Gen Z (it's 24, remember?) lifesaver on the mighty Ohio River.