Locked Up

[tbutler]

I'm... really not sure what to make of this. o.O

For context: This is a historic bridge on part of the Oregon Trail route. The original wooden bridge was built in 1859, painted red, thus giving its name to the Red Bridge neighborhood in south Kansas City. The wooden bridge was replaced in 1892 by a steel bridge, and then by this (relatively) modern bridge in 1932; the current crossing is an elevated road just to the north that doesn't follow the hilly terrain.

I first encountered it more-or-less blind; it's not far from where I work, and I was taking a scenic route home to explore photo opportunities. I knew there was a historic trail marker there, because I'd driven through before, but didn't know the bridge was there or the historic context. So I stopped at the park, started walking... and ran across an old bridge that didn't actually connect to anything (any road had long since crumbled away, see https://goo.gl/maps/S9pnpNYzair ) and was covered with padlocks. What the heck was this?

After I got home and did some research, it turns out there's this 'locking your love' tradition that involves couples carving their names on a padlock and attaching it to the bridge, symbolizing unbreakable love or something. http://kcparks.org/attraction/old-red-bridge-love-locks/

I want to know, where did this come from? o.O When did it originate? KC Parks doesn't seem to be shy on capitalizing on it, but it appears to have been going on for a long time; some of the locks were very old.

And is it just me that sees a creepy side to this, in addition to the 'symbolizing love unbroken' side?