photo courtesy of Mike Paul

The Main Street Bridge
late 1800s in Elmira, NY

lmira's Main Street Bridge Company was formed in 1853 when the new bridge was built as a trestle structure over the island in the river. It was constructed of timber and was damaged several times, first by the flood of 1865 (what, another flood story?) and then by fire in 1866 when the entire north span burned along with several buildings on the corner of Main and Water. In 1872, the tax-payers of Elmira authorized a sum of $120,000 in the form of a bond to replace both the Lake Street and Main Street wooden bridges with structures made of iron.

The photo above is of the Main Street Bridge as it appeared around the turn of the century. One can tell a lot about life in Elmira from this photo. Hats were definitely in - many wore straw hats. So were bicycles. And apparently one could just leave a bicycle laying along the curbside without fear of it being stolen. Bricks provided a solid street surface for horse-drawn carriages, which would still be in common use until the dawn of mass production and the appearance of Fords and Chevies 10 or 20 years hence. No telling how long it would be until the next street car came by so the city provided lots of benches for passengers to sit on while they waited.

This is another great photo courtesy of Mike Paul. You can see others in his collection at this site by visiting his archive.