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Massena Center Suspension Bridge Was Built by Holton D. Robinson Who Later Became Famous World Wide Written and Researched by Atwood Manley

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Massena Center Suspension Bridge Was Built by Holton D. Robinson Who Later Became Famous World Wide Written and Researched by Atwood Manley The St. Lawrence County Historical Association UARTERLY Volume XLIII- Number 4- Falll998 The St. Lawrence County Historical Association at the Silas Wright House The St. Lawrence County Historical Association is a private, not-foJ?P!@'l'F.~~p organization based at tbe Silas Wright House in Canton, New York. Foun5!¢Jn.l~7, tbe Associatio~ovemed by a constitution, by-laws, and Board of Trustees. Th~1 Association's membership mee,annually to elect its officers and trustees. /. Officers: ,~~ Trustees: President: Richard Foster, Ropi' Chris Angus, Canton Vice-President: Carl Stic~, Norwood Patricia Carson, Canton Treasurer: David Sw~n, Canton <-~-11"'> Dennis Eickhoff, Colton Treasurer: Carol ~on, Canton <''""'~ 11198> Shawn Gray, Massena Secretary: Ca~n O'Horo, Canton Gary Kelly, Potsdam<,.-...~ "'> ;r' E. Jane Layo, Waddington ~l' f Stan Maine, Pierrepont Staff: / Lowell McAllister, Heuvel n <,.-...~ 11198> 7 Tre lock, Executive Director Martba McLean, Massena < ·~ 11198> gshore, Collections Manager Jane Subramanian, Pots Vicki ·n, Archives Assistant Joanne Swift, Potsdam Mary Ellen es,Administrative Assistant Peter Van de Water, Canto Robert Wells, Canton Cay Zabriskie, Ogdensbur ' ~,, J. ·.-.,., 1 'dn,Mission L The St. Lawrence County Historical Association is a·bQt.for-pmfil membeJ:sbip organhaliao a! museum which serves as an educational resource for the use and benefit of the citizens of St. Lawrence County and others interested in the County's history and traditions. The Association collects and preserves archival material and artifacts pertinent to the County's history. In cooperation and collaboration with other local organizations, the Association promotes an understanding of and appreciation for the County's rich history through publications, exhibits, and programs. The St Lawrence County Historical Association operates within museum standards established by the American Association of Museums. SLCHA Membership Membership in the St. Lawrence County Historical Association is open to all interested parties. Annual membership dues are: Individual, $25; Senior/Student, $20; Family, $35; Contributor, $50; Supporter, $100; Patton, $250; Businesses, $50 to $1,000. Members receive the SLCHA Quarterly, the Historical Association's bi-monthly newsletter, and various discounts on publications, programs and events. St. Lawrence County Historical Association at tbe Silas Wright House 3 East Main Street, PO Box 8 Canton, New York 13617 (315) 386-8133 The St. Lawrence County Historical Association Quarterly Volume XLID- Number 4- Fall1998 ISSN: 0558-1931 CONTENTS Buck's Bridges: Civil Engineering Roots in the Victorian Age 2 Alan Teichman Massena Center Suspension Bridge ... 14 Atwood Manley Issue Editor: J Rebecca Thompson Cover lllustration: Fireworks display at the opening celebration of the Williamsburg Bridge in December of1903. Courtesy o/LibrlJI')' of Congress, Prints and Photographs Dtvt#on, (IILCUSZ62 913578'CO 062054) Buck's Bridges: Civil Engineering Roots in the Victorian Age By Alan Teichman The evening's guest ofhonor, ies, politicians, and civil engi­ ·City as a deputy commissioner Leffert Lefferts Buck, was not neering peers. As chief engineer of bridges. Leffert's right hand known as a talker. It is likely that of the Williamsburg Bridge, man was reportedly Holton even the many familiar faces Leffert had carried primary re­ Duncan Robinson. Also a North scattered throughout the crowd sponsibility for this, the second Country native, Holton was from of 240 people brought him little East River bridge. As such, he Massena Center. He was Nelson comfort. Praise of his own per­ would have understood better L. Robinson's cousin and a man sonal achievements was not than most that no single man who became expert at suspension something Leffert was inclined could design, plan, and construct cable construction under Lef­ to promote. The gathering was such an ambitious work1 fert's mentoring. Paid high trib­ the January 30, 1904 dinner ute by Leffert that night, Holton meeting ofthe St. Lawrence Club To support his master bridge went on to construct other record of St. Lawrence University in project, Leffert asked his size cables, then a long list of in­ New York. Leffert stood to an­ nephew, Nelson Lemuel Rob­ novative bridg~s in partnership swer the accolades before an au­ inson, to join him as private sec­ with David B. Steinman. Buck, dience comprising a "who's retary. A native of Morley, Robinson, and Robinson, all St. who" from his home town of NewYork and a member of the Lawrence University graduates, Canton, New York. Joining them New York State Bar, Nelson, no formed a unique North Country at the Aldine Hotel were New doubt, provided legal advice as team 2 York City Public Works dignitar- well. He later served New York The Williamsburg Bridge in the process ofbeing painted, (ca.l910-1925). In the foreground are ferry slips on the Brooklyn side ofthe East River. 2 St. Lawrence County Historical Association Quarterly "As to my work, I prefer to let the things I have accom­ plished speak for me," Leffert asserted in response to the evening's compliments' Since its opening, the Williamsburg Bridge already spoke of inter­ borough communication, eco­ nomic development, and in­ creased choice for the immi­ grants massed on the lower east side of Manhattan. Across the river in the quiet Williamsburg section ofBrooklyn, it foretold a migration from the tenements of Manhattan into Brooklyn's once quiet village. The silent movie, made at the bridge opening cer­ emonies on December 19, 1903, recorded jumpy images of a le­ gion of top-hatted dignitaries. Lead by mounted police, a press corps, and Mayor Seth Low, they marched across the new bridge in celebration of its massive Whirlpool Rapids Toll Bridge (1997) in the Niagara Gorge. strength and record length. Designed and built by L.L. Buck in 1896, it replaced Roebling~ Niagara Railroad Suspension Bridge. Still in service today, it The borough system in New carries trains above and road vehicles below on two decks. York had recently been devised in response to the city's explod­ ing size and political complex­ Finding the money to finance Buck's Williamsburg Bridge ity. This swelling metropolis such a project was also a major would never become the icon needed massive bridge projects challenge, often taking years to John A. Roebling's Brooklyn to insure and expand the com­ organize. All ofthis added to the Bridge had become even before merce which was feeding its decidedly difficult technical its completion.* The Williams­ growth. Weather, a major adver­ challenge: to design and erect a burg reflects Leffert's practical, sary ofthe ferry system then serv­ structure capable of carrying the sturdy, and unassuming charac­ ing the water-bound borough of anticipated traffic load over the ter, serving more with monumen­ Manhattan, made traffic move­ proposed distance of span, at rea­ tal utility than with monumental ments especially unreliable dur­ sonable cost. NewYorkCitywas style. For the largely Jewish im- ing winter. Bridge traffic, unlike neither an easy nor forgiving place to lead such a project. the ferries, was not affected by *The Brooklyn Bridge was John Roebling's the ice which intermittently Washington Roebling had con­ master-work, which he had carefully built choked the rivers each time the fronted political dispute, corrup­ toward over many years. Each of his other temperature dipped. Unfortu­ tion, financial shortfall, and remarkable suspension bridges developed and confirmed his theories on long, cable nately, bridges of the scope re­ schedule overrun during his suspended spans. At the inception of quired to span the East River, twelve year struggle to complete construction, while surveying on the located on such densely popu­ the first East River bridge, the Brooklyn side of the East River, John Roebling's foot was crushed when a ferry lated and highly valued land, Brooklyn, just downstream from suddenly bumped into its slip. The injury were extremely difficult to plan the Williamsburg. Only through led to the tetanus infection which claimed and to build. Many disparate such strong efforts was it pos­ his life less than a month later, on July 22, 1869. Responsibility for the project then groups competed in a rush to ei­ sible to establish New York passed to his son, Washington. Though ther protect the status quo or pro­ City's extensive bridge infra­ relatively young, Washington Roebling had mote their agenda for change. structure• worked closely with his father on other projects. St. Lawrence County Historical Association Quarterly 3 - first volunteer company in the Revolutionary War. A member ofBenedictArnold's unfortunate expedition against Quebec, he died there in the smallpox epi­ demic that swept the troops cap­ tured by the British. Leffert's grandfather Isaac served under Ethan Allen and participated in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775. In 1804, the grandfather moved his wife Sa­ rah (Hall), with his son Lemuel and the rest of their children, from their existing life in Addison, Vermont into the fron­ tier forest of northern New York State-' At that time there was neither 1885 Birdseye View of Canton, New York. settler nor bridge in the wooded The Buck Family owned the property in the corner above the corner of the Town of Potsdam railroad tracks and left ofBuck St. and the residence on the river which encompassed the Grass side ofMiner St. just south ofthe Pine St. junction. River upstream from what is now Madrid. The community that migrant population, it provided York. Like these ancestors, it is sprang up soon after took its a way to literally walk out of unglamorous and appears lonely. name from Isaac Buck's bridge, squalor on New York's Lower Its beauty is harsh and sad." By built of wood in the primordial East Side into the developing in­ now the swooping arc of its dis­ landscape soon after 1806. It was dustrial quarter in Brooklyn's tinctive stiffening truss has been a modest and tenuous affair com­ Williamsburg section.
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