C.H. Hicks, American 19th Century

Location:

Loan courtesy of the Western Reserve Historical Society

The Cleveland Columbus bridge replaced a floating bridge over the Cuyahoga River in 1836. It was a source of intense controversy between the residents of Cleveland, on the east bank, and Ohio City on the west as its route bypassed Ohio City’s commercial district. To increase traffic, Cleveland removed their half of the old floating bridge. So incensed were the West-Siders that an angry mob marched on the bridge on October 31, 1836 with the intent of destroying it.

The Cleveland Columbus bridge was eventually replaced with an iron bridge in 1870, and afterward a double-swing bridge, the first ever. In the early 1940’s a steel lift bridge was installed in the cite by workers of the WPA.