In the 1840s, businessmen and politicians wanted a bridge that could ferry goods and people across the Niagara Gorge between Canada and the United States. Boats reigned supreme in the Gorge, and suspension bridges weren’t believed sturdy enough to support the weight of a train. Charles Ellet Jr. was willing to try. He built two footbridges across the Niagara Gorge, then joined them into what was an 8-foot-wide suspension bridge. The bridge, intended to be a temporary measure and the foundation of a larger, stronger bridge, opened on July 29, 1848. Financial disputes between Ellet and the companies funding the bridge led to his leaving the project. 

Three years later, the backing companies hired John Augustus Roebling, who rejected Ellet’s final plan in favor of a double-deck design that would handle pedestrians and carriages on the lower deck, and trains on the upper deck. Roebling finished the bridge’s lower deck in three years. A year later, on March 8, 1855, the upper-deck railway was successfully tested when a steam engine crossed the gorge at eight miles per hour. The upper deck officially opened on March 18. The world’s first working suspension railway bridge was also a vital component of the Underground Railroad, ferrying escaped enslaved people to freedom in Canada. 

As more powerful locomotives were developed to pull more cargo and carry more passengers, the increased weight was too much for Roebling’s bridge, and it was replaced by the Lower Steel Arch Bridge (now the Whirlpool Bridge). By August 27, 1897, the suspension bridge had been dismantled and removed.

Designed by Edward Serrell, this wire-suspension bridge was built from 1850 to 1851. Designed for horse-and-buggy traffic and pedestrians, the bridge connected the settlements of Lewiston, NY, and Queenston, Ontario. In 1864, a windstorm destroyed the bridge.

Also known as the original Falls View Suspension Bridge, this suspension bridge crossed the Niagara River between Niagara Falls, NY, and Clifton, Ontario. Construction on the bridge, which was designed by Samuel Keefer, began in 1867, with the span officially opening on January 2, 1869. It held the record as the world’s longest suspension bridge until 1883, when this title was usurped by the Brooklyn Bridge. A windstorm destroyed the bridge on January 9, 1889.

The International Railway Bridge is a two-span swing bridge that runs from the U.S. shoreline in Buffalo’s Black Rock neighborhood, across Unity Island (formerly known as Squaw Island), and across the Niagara River to the Canadian shoreline at Fort Erie. Designed by Casimir S. Gzowski and D.L. MacPherson, construction began in early 1870; the bridge officially opened November 3, 1873. Originally, the two steam-operated swinging sections could open or close in less than a minute, making them ideal to permit shipping traffic through the canal or on the river. In 1900, the bridge underwent renovations that effectively left a new crossing over the original bridge’s support piers.

Also known as the Michigan Central Railway Cantilever Bridge, this was the second cantilever bridge built in the United States. The cantilever style was sturdier than the suspension bridges of the day. Because Cornelius Vanderbilt, owner of Michigan Central Railway, did not want to pay rent to use the Lower Arch Bridge (now called the Whirlpool Bridge), he formed a company to build a new bridge that would cross the Niagara River between Niagara Falls, NY, and Niagara Falls, Ontario. Designed by Charles C. Schneider, this was the first cantilever-style design to grace the Niagara Gorge. Construction ran from April 15 to November 21, 1883, with the first train crossing on December 6. Although frequently reinforced to support the continually growing weight of the trains that crossed it, it was decommissioned in 1925, replaced by the stronger Michigan Central Railway Steel Arch Bridge.

Not long after the collapse of its predecessor, the Niagara Clifton Bridge, officials ordered a new bridge of the same design. Construction began on March 22, 1889, and the work was completed 38 days later. The bridge opened May 7. The rising demand for electric trolleys, which were too heavy for the suspension bridge, led to the crossing’s planned obsolescence. Dismantled in 1898 after the construction of the Honeymoon Bridge, it was reassembled on the site of the original Queenston-Lewiston Bridge.

Leffert L. Buck’s design is arguably the oldest span still standing over the Niagara River. Located just upstream from the Whirlpool Rapids, this double-decked truss steel arch connects Niagara Falls, NY, with Niagara Falls, Ontario. Built to replace the John Roebling’s 1850s suspension bridge, construction began in April 1896. Like its predecessor, the double-deck structure carried railway traffic on top, with pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages on the lower deck. Unlike its predecessor, the upper deck was designed to accommodate much heavier trains, and the lower deck could accommodate automobiles. The bridge, renamed the Lower Steel Arch Bridge, was completed in late August 1897. From 1897 to 1941, the bridge was the Niagara Falls region’s only direct span between the United States and Canada. In 1937, it was given a new name: the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge.

Known alternately as the Upper Steel Arch Bridge and the Fallsview Bridge, this structure was designed by Leffert L. Buck to replace the 1869 Niagara-Clifton Bridge. The bridge, which, like its predecessor, connected Niagara Falls, Ontario, to Niagara Falls, NY, opened in 1898. A wide bridge, it had space for carriages, pedestrians and twin tracks for electric trolleys. A massive ice jam on the Niagara River collapsed the bridge on January 27, 1938.  It was replaced three years later by the Rainbow Bridge, about 500 feet downriver.

With construction of the Honeymoon Bridge complete, engineer Leffert L. Buck supervised the dismantling of its predecessor, the second Falls View Suspension Bridge, in 1898. The span was moved to the site of the original Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, where it was reassembled. The bridge serviced area traffic until 1962, when its replacement, the modern Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, was completed and opened. The following year, the suspension bridge was sold and dismantled.

Built not far upriver from the current Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, this crossing was built to replace the Niagara Cantilever Bridge. Designed by William Perry Taylor, J.L. Delming and Olaf Hoff, construction began in 1924, with the steel-deck arch bridge opening a year later. The bridge, which crosses the Niagara Gorge between Niagara Falls, NY, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, carried only trains. In 2001, after the railway leading to the bridge was declared a safety risk (and a nuisance to tourists in Niagara Falls, NY), the bridge was closed.

Connecting the cities of Niagara Falls, NY, and Niagara Falls, Ontario, this steel arch bridge is located less than a half-mile from the famous cataracts. The Niagara Falls International Rainbow Bridge was built to replace the Honeymoon Bridge, which collapsed in 1938. Construction began in May 1940, about 1,000 feet north of the American Falls, and less than 600 feet from the Honeymoon Bridge site. The bridge, at the time the longest hingeless arch bridge in the world, opened on November 1, 1941. The design for the Rainbow Bridge was used in later years for the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.

*Many sources claim that Richard (Su Min) Lee’s designs were used for both bridges. Others claim they were the work of Shortridge Hardesty, aided by consulting engineer Edward Lupfer and architect Aymar Embury. 

Western New York Heritage would like to thank the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, the Historic Bridge Foundation, the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and the Niagara Falls (Ont.) History Museum and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library for the information provided for this article.