Question: This wooden covered bridge was traversed by pedestrians, horses, oxen and bicycles as well as vehicles powered by gasoline engines. After almost a century of service, it finally succumbed to the ravages of time and the wear and tear of steady use. Its fate as a Lysander landmark was sealed in 1923 when voters agreed to replace it with a sturdier modern concrete bridge. Its demolition marked the end of an era; it had been the last bridge of its type still standing in New York state. Do you know where this bridge was located and why it was important?
Last week’s answer: Last week’s photo shows a group of laborers ready to insert the keystone into a 12-foot-wide archway spanning Crooked Brook. The year was 1886, and within a few weeks, railroad track would be atop this arch while the waters of Crooked Brook flowed beneath it. Named the Dunbar Cut, the culvert was located just south of the village line on land owned by Seth Dunbar, today part of Lions Community Park.
The project was part of the construction of the Syracuse & Baldwinsville Railroad, a six-mile-long shortline system that connected Baldwinsville’s village center to the Amboy station of the New York Central and Hudson River RR that ran from New Jersey to Buffalo.
Baldwinsville business and civic leaders had long envisioned the economic benefit and convenience of railroad service at the village center. When the opportunity presented itself, they moved quickly. On June 10,1886, a charter was granted to the “Syracuse and Baldwinsville Railroad Company” to allow construction and operation of a railroad between Baldwinsville and Amboy Station. In August a workforce of 100 men with 50 teams of horses began construction.
The new railroad crossed 29 properties and required five stone culverts, the largest being the 12-foot-wide Dunbar Cut. The bridge across the Seneca River would be 350 feet long, and would rest on two limestone abutments and five piers, two of which are visible yet today just east of the Route 48 bridge.
As the last spike was driven into the track on Nov. 24, 1886, a head of steam was building in the new wood burning locomotive. American flags flew from the cab with engineer Morris Finch at the throttle pulling nine cars loaded with workmen. The engine’s steam whistle announced its inaugural run as the northbound train approached the new river bridge. A resounding welcome met its arrival as village church bells pealed, plant whistles blew and a canon was fired as part of the celebration. The new line’s “soft opening” was a huge success.
Unfortunately, the shortline’s success was also short-lived. In 1891 the Syracuse & Baldwinsville Railroad fell into bankruptcy amid rumors of mismanagement. The final blow to its identity came in 1908 with demolition of its Seneca River bridge to make way for the new Barge Canal.
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo before the deadline, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
