1-1 The railing is a functional sculpture by artist Albert Paley
First built over the Genesee in 1812, this landmark has been treated like just another piece of downtown real estate and visited several times in its long life by fire and flood.
The first building on the bridge was a public market constructed by the city about 1827. By 1830, nearly the entire north side of the bridge was covered. The south side of the bridge was eventually lined with buildings. Until the 1960s, most people traveling Main Street never realized they were crossing the river.
1-2 Aerial view about 1929
Photo 1-2 courtesy Rochester Public Library Local History Division
Photo 1-3 courtesy Rochester Public Library Local History Division
Fires are always devastating but winter fires are especially hazardous. The worst of the early fires, January 25, 1834, started in the public market at the west end of the bridge and spread quickly across the span. So fast in fact, the fire brigades were powerless to stop it, they could only stand and watch the destruction. Afterwards the business owners quickly rebuilt their shops.
Floods too have reeked their havoc on downtown Rochester. The worst was the "Great Flood" of March 17-19, 1865. A sudden thaw and heavy rain upstream sent a flood surge on its way toward the city. At midnight on Saturday, the waters crashed over the bridge, across Main Street and down Front Street. The damage from this flood was not to the bridge but the buildings on and around it. The destruction was so great the city fathers petitioned President Lincoln to excluded Rochester from further drafts for the Civil War. We needed every man we could get for reconstruction.
1-3 Looking west over the bridge during the great flood of 1865
Today the bridge is free of buildings so all may enjoy the view up and down the Genesee, a result of a project begun in the 1960s to beautify the riverfront.
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