Collection search - Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Company fonds [textual record, graphic material]

Record information – Brief
1
Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Company fonds [textual record, graphic material]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1847-1958.

Reference:

R10925-0-6-E

Type of material:

Textual material, Art

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

206651

Context of this record:

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Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Company fonds
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Record information – Details
Fonds includes:

3 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1847-1958.

Place of creation:

Ontario

Extent:

1.65 m of textual records.
13 drawings : sketches, ink.

Language of material:

English

Accession:

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Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge [textual record]

Scope and content:

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Fonds consists of corporate, legal, financial and operational records relating to the construction, reconstruction and business administration of the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge from the very earliest years of its operations until the early part of the 20th century, 1848-1911. Includes minute books, invoices 1848-1902, correspondence 1848-1865, 1897-1911 and legal disputes 1856-1900. There is also some material dating to as late as the 1950s.

More specifically, there are following records:

An account book dating from 1847 - October 2, 1855;
An account book September 1852 - August 1874;
A minute book November 17, 1881 - November 18, 1915;
A minute book May 1, 1916 - November 29, 1929

There is also correspondence dating from the mid 1850s to the mid 1860s. See lower level descriptions for details.

There are also a number of bridge bond coupons. See lower level description for details.

Note that as the two companies responsible for the suspension bridge and later arch bridge are interconnected, there are documents created by both Canadian and American counterparts of the company.

Provenance:

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Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Company

Additional name(s):

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Niagara Falls Bridge Commission

Biography/Administrative history:

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Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Company : In 1846, the governments of Upper Canada and the State of New York initiated the creation of two companies that would be authorized to build a bridge over the Niagara River gorge The bridge was to be owned by both companies, respectively known as the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Company (Canadian) and the INiagara Falls International Bridge Company (American). A suspension bridge was completed in 1848. This bridge was later replaced by a second suspension bridge that accommodated railways, built in 1853-54 by John Roebling.

The Great Western Railway (later the Grand Trunk Railway and Canadian National Railways) took over the bridge company. The bridge was rebuilt in 1877-1886. Ten years later, the suspension bridge was replaced by a steel arch one.

However, the increasing weight of trains made it necessary for the bridge to be redesigned, and a third bridge was completed in 1886. Eventually, this bridge was replaced by a steel arch bridge (known as the Lower Arch Bridge), which was completed in 1897.

The Lower Arch Bridge was built around the skeleton of the Third Suspension Bridge, without disrupting travel. The Lower Arch Bridge supported pedestrian and carriage traffic. A separate level carried train traffic, and the bridge companies maintained contractual relationships with various rail carriers, including the Grand Trunk Railway, Michigan Central Railroad, and the Canadian National Railway.

The two companies became the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, which was created in 1938, and it bought the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge in 1959. The Board of Commissioners consists of citizens of both the United States and Canada, and the main function of the organization is to oversee the management of the Whirlpool Rapids, Rainbow, and Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.

Additional information:

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Related material:

There are a number of files relating to the suspension bridge in the Canadian National Railway Company fonds, RG30. Also there are numerous photos of the suspension bridge in a number of different collections.
Subject heading:

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Niagara Falls

Niagara Suspension Bridge

INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE-NIAGARA FALLS-ONT

NIAGARA RIVER

Suspension Bridge
Source:

Private

Related control no.:

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2003-00581-1
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Conditions of access:

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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R10925] 1--8

[Consultation 90 Open]

Graphic (art)

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R10925] 2--3

[Consultation 90 Open]

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