I have covered many colonial stamps, and the record of colonialism is at best mixed. Yet it is hard to argue with making connections. Here we have a bridge that has been doing that for over 100 years. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
Today is a bridge in Senegal. One can understand that the level of engineering involved was beyond anything that could have been achieved locally by the natives in 1898. As such, it is one of those rare instances of doing something worth doing and not merely exploitive. Today this bridge still stands and understandably is a symbol of Saint Louis, Senegal. No wonder such an achievement is honored with a stamp. I was hoping to find an indepent Senegal stamp with the bridge, perhaps on the bridges 100th anniversary, but no the postal authorites now seem more into the Paris Dakar Rally.
The stamp today is issue A29, a one cent stamp issued by the French colony of Senegal in 1935. The stamp was part of a 30 stamp issue in various denominations and were issued for many years. If you see a version without the RF that means it was issued by the Vichy French puppet state during World War II and are fake as they were not sold for postage in Senegal. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether mint or used.
The city of Saint Louis is at the mouth of the Senegal River on the island of Nadr. Upon arrival of French traders, the island was unoccupied. The French built first a fortress called Saint Louis and the city grew up around it. It became the capital of the colony when France annexed the mainland. At first there was a ferry system to the island but the colony saw the need for a proper bridge and the colony took out a loan to get the bridge built. Faideherbe Bridge was named after French General and colonial administrator Louis Faideherbe. There is an urban legend that the bridge was designed by Gustave Eifel and used steel sections intended for a bridge in Romania he lost the contract for. The truth is that Eifel’s firm bid on the project but did not win the contract. The bridge has a moveable section to let large ships pass or to deny access to the island.
Saint Louis developed a fairly unique culture as a multi race trading post that was dominated by Creole traders known as Metis. They had an unusually high proportion of females among their ranks. Much of the trading however was dealing in slavery, that went on for several decades after the French had officially abolished it.
Over time the fortunes of Saint Louis declined. The port facilities were inadequate for the then new steamships, and new traders from Bordeaux in France st up rival trade routes out of Dakar, another city further south that also started as an offshore island trade post. In 1902, the capital of French West Africa moved from Saint Louis to Dakar, although the capital of Senegal itself stayed in Saint Louis for a few more years until independence in 1960.
The decline continued post independence. By 2010 the Faidherbe bridge required urgent repairs. The French and Creoles are long gone from Saint Louis, but nevertheless it was up to France to see that the city did not lose the connection to the mainland. France financed the repairs as it had the original construction. How independent is Senegal really if it can not do anything for itself.
Well my drink is empty and so I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.