Thousand Islands Bridge: 75 years of international goodwill

7/22/2019 Thousand Islands Bridge: 75 years of international goodwill

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THOUSAND ISLANDS BRIDGE75 years of International Goodwill

A special supplement to the Watertown Daily Times, Friday, August 16, 2013


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2 Thousand Islands Bridge Friday, August 16, 2013

JOHNSON NEWSPAPERS ARCHIVES

It was the rst, and so far the only,time the leaders of the two nationsjoined hands across this border.

The day was Aug. 18, 1938. Theoccasion was the dedication of theThousand Islands International Bridge,a $3-million project completed in lessthan two years that linked the UnitedStates and Canada, making trans-border travel easier than ever before. Itwas a momentous occasion, witnessedby 25,000 people who gathered towatch President Franklin D. Rooseveltand Canadian Prime Minister WilliamL. Mackenzie King pledge everlastingfriendship and cooperation betweentheir two nations.

It was hailed as the biggest as-semblage Northern New York hasever seen.

As early as 9 a.m. cars were ock-ing to a six-acre outdoor amphitheaterthat had been set up near the Inter-national Ri Bridge, the small, stone-walled bridge separating WellesleyIsland and the Canadian Hill Island,for the 3 p.m. ceremony.

Flags of both countries ... stood asthe only physical symbols to indicatethat a two-nation population had

gathered here, read news accountsof the day.

LEADERS MET IN KINGSTONEarlier in the day President Roos-

evelt had traveled to Kingston, Ont.,to receive an honorary degree fromQueens University. He traveled to theborder in a car with Mr. King.

Harold B. Johnson, then editor andpublisher of The Watertown DailyTimes, and Edward John Noble hadbeen appointed by the ThousandIslands Bridge Authority to greet thepresident and the prime minister andact as hosts for the days festivities.

The roar of honorary gun salutesand sirens heralded the arrival of thepresidential motorcade at the Ri.

The car bearing the two heads of statestopped at the tiny stone Ri Bridgeand they both cut a ribbon held byone Canadian and one U.S. Armysergeant.

As pieces of the ribbon oated to theground, the crowd scram bled for-ward to grab the taers.

The ocial motorcade, consistingof 50 cars, proceeded through thecrush to the speakers stand, wheredignitaries from both sides of theborder waited. Among them was NewYork State Lt. Gov. M. William Bray,speaking on behalf of Gov. Herbert H.Lehman, who was unable to aendthe ceremony because of a knee injury.

SPIRIT OF GOODWILLIt is a joy to me to be able to join

with the President this aernoon in

drawing to the aention of citizens ofother lands, as well as our own, thewide signicance of todays proceed-ings, and much that is symbolized bythe new structure, said Mr. King.

This bridge is a symbol in inter-national amity, he said. It consti-tutes yet another of the many bondswhich join two peoples who rival one

another, not in enmities or in arma-ments, but in devotion to the ways ofpeace and the spirit of conciliation.

This Thousand Islands Bridgeserves to emphasize and, we cannotdoubt, will enhance through the years,the inheritance of commerce andculture shared by the people on eitherbank of the St. Lawrencenot onepeople, but two.

At the start of his address, Presi-dent Roosevelt was supposed togreet Mr. King by saying, Mr. PrimeMinister. However, in the spiritof friendliness and goodwill thatcharacterized the day, the Presidentdiscarded that greeting in favor ofmy fellow bridge builder, much tothe delight of the crowd.

Here a boundary is a gateway andnot a wall, President Roosevelt said.Between these islands an internationalgap, never wide, has been spanned,as gaps usually are, by the exercise ofability, guided by common sense.

FDR BOOSTS SEAWAY IDEAMr. Roosevelt also did not pass

up the opportunity to express hisinterest in the construction of the St.Lawrence Seaway.

The crowd roared with thunderousapproval as the president said, I lookforward to the day when a Canadianprime minister and an Americanpresident can meet and dedicate, not abridge across this water, but the verywater itself, to the lasting and produc-tive use of their respective peoples.

Lile did he know that occasion

would take place less than 20 years later.On their way to the stand, as well as

on their way to Clayton to catch a train,the two national leaders paused oento shake hands with spectators whoconstantly crushed in around them.

The crowds flooded the roadwayas soon as the speeches were over,and it took more than 20 minutes toget the presidential party out of the

elated masses.

CARS FROM ALL OVERFiy New York State troopers, as

well as numerous other law enforce-ment ocers, used motorcycles andhorses to try to control the crowd. Itwas called an innovation in tracdirection when U.S. Immigrationturned over its short-wave radio

system to the police because telephonecommunication was not possible.A survey of license plates showed

there were vehicles from coast to coastat the ceremony. And all were morethan willing to shell out $1.25 to crossthe bridge that very rst day.

Everyone paid tribute to the bridgein his own way that day. But Rev.John L. Plunke, pastor of St. Pat-ricks Church, Watertown, blessed

the structure.Grant that it may stand as a lastingmemorial, not alone to the achieve-ments of architectural and engineeringskill, but what is more, to the accom-plishments of peace, emphasizing thefact that men on this continent canand do live in unity and harmony, notin armed neutrality.

Spirit of goodwill marked dedication

Leaders from U.S., Canada joined hands at border for ceremony

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Friday, August 16, 2013 Thousand Islands Bridge 3

Thousand Islands Bridge:A Mountain of Materials

Building the Thousand IslandsBridge was no small aair by any ac-count. Bridge authorities report thatconstruction of the $3,050,000 struc-ture, from the April 30, 1937, ground-

breaking to the Aug. 18, 1938, ribbon-cuing, required the following: n 7,000 tons of structural steel

n 550 tons of steel wire cable n 21,000 cubic yards of re-enforcedconcrete masonry n 16,098 feet of new connectinghighway on the Ontario mainland n 37 pre-stressed wire rope strands,1 1/4-inches in diameter each, insidethe main cable

n 2,000 workers n 484 tons of cable n 504,000 Man-hours of labor

A construction crew works to surface the deck of the Thousand Islands Bridge in preparation for its openingin 1938. The project consumed a massive amount of materials during its 18-month construction.

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WDT: How important is the bridgeto the region and to the economy?

HORR: First and foremost, forpassenger trac, the 1000 Islandsrepresents a destination itself for a lot

of people, but its also a way into theU.S. to other parts for a lot of people.When the Interstate and the 401 came

along, we became a conduit to otherplaces. Prior to that, the authorityhad been very active in creating a1000 Islands Council to promote theislands because they needed trac.The commercial side didnt take ountil the North American Free TradeAct. It was mostly local until then.Our high year for commercial tracwas 2000 or 2001 with 540,000 truckscoming through. Right now were

just under 400,000. Thats the result ofthe economy and currency exchange.Commercial trac exploded here inthe 90s as a result of NAFTA and webecame a very important gateway forcommercial trac. Aer 9/11, I wasat a meeting in Detroit with vari-ous bridge operators and they weretalking about the impact on the autoindustry in Detroit. They said anydelay at the border costs them a mil-

lion dollars a minute. That gave us abeer idea of the importance of mak-ing sure our border crossings, bridges

and tunnels are eciently run and ofworking with both governments tomake them as ecient as possible.

WDT: How involved are youwith border issues?

HORR: Whats happening with theborder is probably the hardest thingweve had to deal with in the last12 years. Were unique because theborder is in the middle of our sys-

temwhat happens in the middledirectly aects what happens in theend. I spend a tremendous amount ofmy time working on border issues be-cause what happens there will aectmy business and aect it negativelyquickly. When talk surfaces withHomeland Security about chargingCanadians to come into the U.S., youhave to beat it with a stick. Customshas a very dierent mission than we

do ours is to move trac, theirsis to inspect trac. Its a relationshipthat has dierent and opposing ends

and we all recognize that we have towork together. Creating those rela-tionships and keeping those relation-ships going is extremely important.

WDT: How big of a gamechanger was 9/11?

HORR: We were fortunate here thatthe border never actually closed. Iknew immediately that the pendu-lum was going to swing and that it

was going to swing a long way. Andit did. Thereve been a number ofprograms introduced over the years,most of which didnt necessarily helpwhat was happening it was moreabout enforcement than ecientlymoving trac. I think thats come fullcircle now. Theyve instituted a lot ofprograms that really make sense. Ican say today that the border is moreecient than it was prior to 9/11.

Thats my gauge of improvement. Ithink if you talked to customs in bothcountries theyd tell you theyre get-

NORM JOHNSTON n WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES

TIBA: KEEPING THEWHEELS TURNINGAs bridge turns 75, Authority Director Robert Horr III looks ahead

When the Thousand Is-lands Bridge openedto trac in 1938, con-necting Northern NewYork to Canada, the na-tions interstates were still years awayand the country was mired in the GreatDepression. In its rst year, the bridgesaw roughly 94,000 vehicle crossings.Some 75 years later, annual vehicletrac tops 2 million and the agencythat operates the bridge ThousandIslands Bridge Authority also man-ages Boldt Castle. We sat down withTIBA Director Robert G. Horr III tolearn how things have changed.


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ting more information, theyre moreprepared, they have beer trainingand theyre funded more than theyused to be.

WDT: How have thesepreparations changed?

HORR: We were always preparedfor accidents, being in the tracbusiness you expect that, whetherits collisions, res or vandalism. Westill have that, but now we have theadded component of securing thefacilities against terrorism, domes-tic or otherwise. Being an economicgateway, were probably on some-ones list somewhere. We undertooka very robust security installationhere in 2006. Were now protectingkey components of the system thatwe didnt before, or that we did butfor dierent reasons. Thats alwaysbeen a challenge here because wewant to be accessible. We wanted toput in sidewalks on the bridge andtheyre an araction on their ownon a summer day you can see 500-600people going across. But one of therst things our security consultantsaid was that you have to close thesidewalks, so we made some changesand maintained accessibility. We feel

prey comfortable now maintainingour sidewalks and were prey se-cure. The sidewalks are open duringthe day and closed at night.

WDT: What was the blowbackon the recently raised toll

rates on the bridge?HORR: There was not a tremendousamount of blowback. People see thatthe money they pay is going backinto the facility. Tolls have a verynegative connotation sometimes. Alot of surveys say that people dontmind paying tolls. They see thatwere spending money to improveand thats why we talk about the proj-ects that were doing. People also see

that you dont pay for the bridge ifyou dont use it. If you do cross here,you pay for it.

WDT: Do you have plans toget EZ Pass on the bridgeand how far o is that?

HORR: Yes. We are working on EZPass. It requires an initial upfrontinvestment thats not small, but itssomething people want, so we areworking to get it. Id say its a maerof months. Its going to gain a lot moremomentum as we get closer to fall.

WDT: How has the TIBAexpanded over the years?

HORR: A number of things happenedbetween 1976 and 1977. The rst oneis that the Canadian properties, in-cluding the bridge and the toll plaza,all reverted to the Canadian federalgovernment. The original deal in the1930s with the Canadian govern-ment was that when the constructionbonds were paid o, the Canadianproperties could revert. Were onesystem here and having two separateoperators didnt make a lot of sense.The authority was able to negotiatea deal with the federal government.The Canadians put us under the St.Lawrence Seaway Authority in 1977.

They worked on a series of 10-yearagreements until 1980 and weve beenworking under those agreements eversince. In 1998 the St. Lawrence Sea-way Authority of Canada dissolvedand privatized. So the bridges thatwere underneath our bridge, theSeaway International Bridge, the St.Marie, the Montreal bridges wentunder a new corporation called theFederal Bridge Corporation, a cloud

corporation like a federal authority.We negotiated a new 10-year agree-ment with them that were continuingtoday. In 1977, the authority assumed

ownership of Boldt Castle and all theBoldt properties. Those are the mostmajor things that have happened atthe authority since the beginning interms of responsibilities.

WDT: What is the busiest

time of year for the bridges?HORR: The summer months. Withthe Canadian dollar where it is now,our passenger trac is much busier.There denitely has been an increasein retail trac. Canadians have re-laxed their duty on what you can takeback, so theres a focus to encouragepeople to come to these areas to shop.

WDT: Do the Canadians ever

take umbrage at our eortsto aract them to the U.S.?

HORR: People complain a bit thattheyre not buying Canadian, thenationalism you might expect. I thinkit comes down to choice. You talk tofolks even in the grocery store and itsabout choice, not just price. They justdont have as many choices in Cana-dian stores. Its more expensive to do

business in Canada. A longer version of this interview appered inthe June 2013 issue of NNY Business. Visit www.nnybizmag.com to read the complete interview.


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Nothing, its said, lasts forever.Except for the Thousand IslandsBridge.

With proper maintenance and alile luck, the 75-year old spanslifespan could be innite, accordingto the engineers who designed it.

The life depends on maintenance,said Robert H. Busek, P.E., seniorvice president of Steinman, Boynton,Gronquist & Birdsall, New York City,the engineers who designed, built

and still keep an eye on the bridge.So far, bridge maintenance has

been splendid, Mr. Busek said onthe occasion of the 50th anniver-sary of the bridge. He credited theThousand Islands Bridge Author-ity for the superior upkeep. Thenear-perfect maintenance is thechief reason its lasted so long sowell, Mr. Busek said.

The authority has an excellentreputation with respect to mainte-nance, said Mr. Busek. Its impor-tant to realize the authority does

everything thats needed to keepthe bridge in a good functioningcondition.

Russell I. Wilcox, the authoritysformer executive director, saidmaintenance of the bridge has beenhis purpose since he arrived in 1962.

The bridge is painted every year,and while its being painted, anymaintenance that needs to be donea bolt tightened, a crack patched,the replacement of minor things is taken care of, Mr. Wilcox said.

From 1984 to 1986, the authorityaempted a more ambitious mainte-nance project: it replaced the entiredeck leading to the main span.

There are three parts to thebridge. The ramp leading up, theramp leading down, and the sus-pension span itself, joining the two.Each segment is 1,500 feet long.

The decks were replaced andwidened, with trac limited to

one lane. The authority, calculatingwhen the bridge gets the least traf-c, did the repairs between 6 p.m.

and 6 a.m. during the week.It worked quite well, Mr. Wil-

cox said.

Mr. Wilcox also cited one morereason the bridge has lasted solong, one that may seem minor,

but is in fact vital to the bridgesyouthful appearance: the authorityuses sand, not salt, to melt ice dur-ing the winter.

Sand, maintenance and theauthority arent the only factorsdetermining how long the bridge

will last. Trucking and bridgeregulations could render the bridgeuseless, as could the size, numbersand types of loads rolling across itevery day.

The bridge may become obsoleteas opposed to running out of itsuseful life, Mr. Busek said.

Some of the original bridge hasalready been replaced, but thecables, supports and towers are the

same ones erected in 1938. Theymay be here in 2038, and 2988, Mr.Busek said.

For all practical purposes, theycould last forever.

The structure will go on, Mr.

Busek said.The cables are made up of hun-

dreds of one-eighth-inch thicksteel wires. The cables are rootedin concrete anchors. The towers aremade of structural steel, supportedon concrete bases.

If you take a piece of steel andput it out in the environment andpaint it every year, it lasts, Mr.

Busek said.Most bridges are designed to last50 years, said Mr. Busek. But hiscompany specializes in more per-manent types. Steinman, Boynton,Gronquist & Birdsall, Mr. Busekscompany, is involved with anotherfamous span: the Brooklyn Bridge,which is 50 years ahead of theThousand Islands Bridge.

With any luck, the year 2038 will

see the Thousand Islands Bridges100th anniversary. The authorityand its engineers are counting on it.

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Bridge ended islanders isolation

Connection to mainland was critical link to rest of region for residentsJOHNSON NEWSPAPERS ARCHIVESThe opening of the Thousand

Islands Bridge 75 years ago put theresidents of this island on the St.Lawrence River in closer touch withthe outside world. In so doing, itended an island way of life that hadthrived in relative isolation fromthe mainland.

You couldnt get o, said Thou-sand Island Park native Helen P.Jacox, describing an essential fact oflife for islanders enduring the long,harsh winters here before the bridgewas built. The isolation made island-ers resourceful and socially close-knit. In winter, when the summerresort community shut down, It wasinconvenient to get to the store, saidMrs. Jacox, co-author of Thousand

Island Park: One Hundred Years andThen Some. You only went when itwas absolutely necessary.

You didnt have the facilities,said Nellie W. Taylor, president of theThousand Island Park Museum anda Wellesley Island native. You didntrun o to the hospital, but reliedinstead on a midwife on the island.You didnt take a shine to just goingsomewhere. It was an eort, winteror summer.

FERRIES CARRIED CARSI remember my grandmother say-

ing it took a day to get to Watertown.And theyd stay over a day for shop-ping, Mrs. Taylor said.

Summer tourists and year-roundislanders relied on the mail boat fromClayton and ferrries that carried ve-hicles, supplies and passengers fromCollins Landing, now in the shadowof the bridge span, and from FishersLanding to Thousand Island Park.The ferries docked every hour duringdaylight, leaving the streets of thisresort and former Methodist camp-ground lled with people.

One of the best known of theferries, the Ark or the TIP (aerThousand Island Park), charged $1.50per car and carload or 35 cents perpassenger in 1928. It could handleve cars and 40 passengers.

In earlier years, steamers pliedthe river between Clayton, CapeVincent and Gananoque, carrying

railroad passengers and other tour-ists to the island.

PUPILS BOARDED IN CLAYTON

Residents traveled on foot or byhorse and cuer on the iceboundriver between Thousand Island Parkand Fineview, where a store wasopen year-round. Island residentsusually traveled over water or ice,since driving was dicult on the is-lands few dirt roads. The main islandroad, paved only a few years beforethe bridge was erected, was quite animprovement on the mud road thatwas there, said Mrs. Taylor.

Before the bridge, Wellesley Islandchildren were carried across the river

on ice punts or boats to aend schoolin Clayton. Some pupils boarded inClayton homes and returned to theisland on weekends.

Ice jams and swi currents madethe trip a dangerous one. Mrs.Jacox recal led an incident in the1930s when she was a Clayton HighSchool student and the studentsisland-bound boat was trapped inice oes that had broken up on LakeOntario. Another boat towed themback to the mainland, where theyspent the night.

SOME WENT THROUGH ICEDuring the deep freeze of January

and February, islanders oen drovetheir cars and trucks or horses-and-sleighs over the frozen river for gro-

ceries and supplies on the mainland.Trucks returned with coal to heat theThousand Island Park elementaryschool and year-round homes. Con-tractors hauled lumber and buildingsupplies back to the island. Withmoney scarce, old buildings weremoved across the icebound river,their lumber to be salvaged for newcoages.

There were a few accidents. Theywent through the ice, Mrs. Jacoxsaid. No one got killed that I knowof, but there were some cases ofpneumonia. She recalled groceriesoating on the river aer her unclescar plunged through the ice.

For year-round residents, You

really had to do whatever you could

do to make any kind of money, Mrs.Taylor said. Boatbuilding was onesuch occupation.

They lived more or less o the

land, said Mrs. Jacox. The menshed and hunted and trapped.Wild game was a staple of the island-ers diet. I never liked wild duck. I

think its because my parents had itall the time, Mrs. Taylor said.

NO LACK OF SOCIAL LIFE

Despite their isolation, island-ers did not lack a social life. Homeparties and pot-luck suppers were

popular, especially on larger farms,where furniture would be cleared fora dance oor. The annual remens

dance was a highlight of the longwinter, followed by biweekly boxsocials. Quilting parties were popularamong women.

You dont have the social closenessyou had then, said Mrs. Jacox.

With the bridge opening, The bigthing was that it just changed thewhole aitude. You no longer hadto stay home. If you wanted to getup and go, you could. There was a

bridge.It was a big change aer the

bridge, said Mrs. Jacox. Not im-mediately, but gradual. The wholeeconomy had changed.

It was a culture that graduallywas lost, Mrs. Taylor said.

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Bringing bridge to fruition a dream come trueJOHNSON NEWSPAPERS ARCHIVES

It began as a boyhood dream, butthe creation of an international bridgelinking Canada and the United Statesfaced a long uphill bale before nal-ly becoming a reality in 1938. Whilesummering at Thousand Islands Parkin 1908, James Harry Arthur of Mex-ico, N.Y., became obsessed with theidea of an international bridge. Heschemed and dreamed and watchedwith interest as the building of aninternational bridge got under wayin Brockville, Ont. in 1895. A youngMr. Arthur and his friends playedon huge stone abutments that wereslated to be part of this bridge, whichwas supposed to cross Three SistersIslands. That project was abandoned,much to Mr. Arthurs disappoint-ment, but he continued to quietlymap out his plan for a bridge duringthe ensuing years.

By 1926 Mr. Arthur owned the Pra

House Hotel at Thousand IslandsPark. Aer years of planning, he haddecided a Collins Landing-Ivy Leabridge would be most practical. He

wrote to Canadian government of-cials, outlining his plan, and madea sand model of the bridge, show-

ing islands, the bridges, roads andprominent landmarks.

He put this model on display onthe lawn in front of Pra House andit drew a lot of aention from pass-ersby. One of these passersby hap-pened to be W. Gilbert Freeman, thena Glens Falls and Alexandria Bayhotelier.

Known as a promoter, Mr. Freemanjoined Mr. Arthur in the formation of

the Thousand Islands Bridge Corp.,with oces in Albany. The corpora-tion was backed with Canadian andAmerican capital and in 1927 theNew York State Legislature grantedthe corporation a charter.

On Feb. 14, 1927, the U.S. Congresspassed a bill giving the corporation aone-year permit to bridge the Ameri-can channel. The bill was signed byPresident Calvin Coolidge. However,

former Gov. Alfred E. Smith vetoedthe state measure.Mr. Freeman managed to get a

second bill passed through the state

Legislature in 1928. The governorvetoed it again on the grounds thata bridge should be a public project.

In 1930 the state Legislature ap-pointed a St. Lawrence River BridgeCommission to investigate possiblesites for an international bridgeacross the river.

By the following year the com-mission had come up with six pos-sibilities: Cape Vincent/Kingston;Collins Landing/Ivy Lea; Mor-ristown/Brockville; Ogdensburg/Presco; Waddington/Morrisburg;

and over the proposed hydro de-velopment at Cornwall. The statehowever, never took any action onthe commissions report.

Mr. Freeman and Mr. Arthur con-tinued to push for their project butdiscouragement built and by 1932they had given up.

But Mr. Freeman had rmly plant-ed the idea of an international bridgein the minds of Thousand Islanders

and it was then le up to them topick up the banner.Later on in 1932, the Depression

sparked renewed interest in a bridge

because of job creation. Local citizensorganized and appointed Watertowncivil engineer William T. Field chair-

man of a commiee to promote theinternational bridge concept.

Mr. Field got chambers of com-merce, granges, governmental unitsand boards of trade on the bridgebandwagon and in August of 1932he convinced the Jeerson CountyBoard of Supervisors to appoint aThousand Islands Bridge Commiee.

Mr. Field had eld surveys doneand enlisted the services of Robinson

& Steinman, world-renowned bridgeengineers. In November 1932 applica-tion was made for a federal Recon-struction Finance Corporation loanfor money to build the bridge. Theeort paid o.On April 18, 1933, Gov. Herbert H.Lehman signed a bill creating theThousand Islands Bridge Authority.

A year later, the Canadian govern-ment announced royal assent to the

Thousand Islands Bridge Co. of On-tario, which in Canada, paralleled thework of the Thousand Islands BridgeAuthority.

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Bridge proves economic boon to both sidesTourism, businesses near border helped by bridge as crossings see dramatic uptick


It was known as The Bridge fromNowhere to Nowhere.

At least among the skeptics. But 50years aer its dedication, the Thou-sand Islands International Bridgehad proved itself a gateway toeconomic vitality for river communi-ties like Alexandria Bay and Clayton,and continues to be so today. It fuelsthe tourist trade and lures businessesreliant on cross-border commerce.And it isnt a drain on state taxpay-ers. The structurewith its $2.75crossing feeis self-sustaining.

By July 1949, the rst ripples of theeconomic spill-over eect began towash over the region.

Tour boat lines, described as notso long ago a starvation proposi-tion, reported robust trade, and vet-

eran caterers to the islands clientelesaid they could not remember when

business was as good.

They pointed to the toweringThousand Islands bridge, spanningCollins Landing to Ivy Lea, Ont.,as the genie that brought this good

fortune.

FISHING, HOTELS BOOSTED

Although not quite a return tothe heydays of the 1890s and 1900s,when the region served as a play-ground for ostentatious industrial-

ists, the bridge helped the sport sh-ing industry show new signs of life,and, as one newspaper accounted,hotels are lled nightly and restau-rants are going at capacity.

The Thousand Islands regionhasnt looked back since.

The resorts, restaurants, bars,souvenir shops, duty-free stores andtour-boat operators continue to bedirect beneciaries of the scal well-

being brought by accelerated trans-border trac.

But other businesses engaged in

the movement of freightsuch asAnchor Motor Freight on WellesleyIslandprosper in the shadow ofthe bridge as well.

And as they prosper, so too doesthe local economy.

BRIDGE LURED TRUCKING FIRM

Before General Motors selected the

Alexandria Bay site, Anchor Motor

Freight terminal manager Clark J.

Riedel said the company planned to

bypass the region entirely, ferrying

boats from the Canadian shore of

Lake Ontario to Rochester.

The existence of the Thousand

Islands Bridge tipped the scales in

favor of Wellesley Island. Nestled

between the Canadian and Ameri-

can spans, he said the island was an

ideal spot.

It oered an added bonuswesplit the fares with the Canadians,

said Mr. Riedel.

It permied Canadian carriers too-load cars assembled in Scarbor-ough and Oshawa, in the Provinceof Ontario, and St. Therese, Que.,

bound for 17 states. American-assembled cars also make a pit stopat Wellesley Island from Tarrytown,Baltimore, Md., and Framingham,Mass., en route to Canada.

The amount of Canadian exportsowing to the United States, via the

Thousand Islands Bridge, also at-tracted the aention of A.N. Dering-er Inc., a brokerage rm based in St.Albans, Vt.

Assistant Manager Gawaine S.Ward said 99 percent of the rms

business is derived from ling entrypapers and paying duties for Cana-dian cargo being transported to theUnited States. It is one of nine such

rms on the island.Deringer is bonded with the U.S.Please see TOURISM, page 11

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10/16


No ordinary construction job for 70 workersSeeking a job in tough times, bridges workers came from varied backgrounds


In 1937-38 it was just a job, work-ing on the construction of a newbridge.

The hundreds of men who workedon various aspects of constructionof the Thousand Islands Bridgewere just glad to have a job in thosetough times. Lile did they realizethey were building history. They

never imagined that 50 years laterthey would become celebrities.

Although many have died, theThousand Islands Bridge Author-ity found about 70 of the originalconstruction workers. They werehonored in a special ceremony onthe 50th anniversary of the bridgeAug. 18, 1988.

The men who worked on the

bridge did everything from pouringcement to erecting steel to operatingmachinery.

LEO V. REID

Leo V. Reid, Ivy Lea, Ont., wasa steelworker on the bridge in thewinter of 1937-38. He helped rivetthe towers on the Canadian span.

At age 21 he lived on his fam-ilys farm and didnt have a job.The foreman of the steelwork-ers boarded at Mr. Reids fathershouse, so he made the contact andwas offered a job.

He had no training in steelwork,but began as a riveter s helperand received all of his training onthe job.

Mr. Reid said there were no safetyshoes or hard hats, and he worked

on a scaolding hoisted by ropes.He earned $1.10 an hour, which

was a good wage back then. Ordi-nary wages were 25 cents an hourif you could even get a job, Mr.Reid said.

He liked the work and all of thepeople he met, including fellowsteelworker Angus McDonald, theonly man killed during the con-struction of the bridge.

Mr. Reid and Mr. McDonald hadworked together all winter. In the

spring of 1938, Mr. McDonald wastaking down a derrick that was usedto li steel. One side of the derrickslipped, and Mr. McDonald plungedonto the rocks below.

He had a quarter in his pocketand it was bent double, Mr. Reidsaid. He mustve fallen awfullyhard.

It was the only tragedy to mar the

year-and-a-half-long constructionperiod.

WILLIAM J. DENNY

The scarcity of work and the goodwages also aracted William J.Denny, Depauville, to a job on thebridge.

Mr. Denny worked on the twomain piers of the U.S. span when

the cement was being poured in1937. His primary job was batchplant operator, pouring dry cementmix into trucks, but his duties alsoincluded slogging through the wetcement with boots on to stamp itdown. It was awful hard on yourlegs, he said.

At 75 cents an hour, Mr. Dennymade much more at his bridge jobthan he did working on a farm,

which he did before the bridge proj-ect.

Aer working on the bridge, Mr.Denny decided to stay in the con-struction business and went to workat Camp (now Fort) Drum.

Bert E. TibblesBert E. Tibbles Sr., Alexandria Bay,

was another construction worker

who enjoyed his bridge job so muchhe stayed in the business aer hisnine-month stint as a machine op-erator.

Mr. Tibbles operated a cementmixer on a platform 25 feet abovethe ground. The machine he operat-ed pumped the cement up and intothe frames that formed the largepiers under the American span.

He was 28 and looking for work in

1937 when bridge construction start-ed. I went back two or three times

and asked them if they needed anyhelp. Finally they said yes, you cango right to work.

It was dog eat dog in thosedays, Mr. Tibbles said. There justwasnt the work.

He worked six days a week for 75cents an hour. I thought that was re-ally big.

Mr. Tibbles said that in a way

he realized the signicance of thebridge, but the fact that he had awell-paying job was more importantto him.

GORDON F. TRUESDELL

While construction workers madeup the bulk of the employes at thebridge site, there were others whodid various interesting jobs that con-

tributed to the monumental eort.Gordon F. Truesdell, Gananoque,Ont., was only 12 when he securedhimself a summer job as a water boyat the construction site.

Living in Ivy Lea, Ont., at thetime, Mr. Truesdell was in theright place at the right time whenconstruction started and he hearda water boy was needed. With ahomemade at-boomed punt with

an outboard motor, he got the job.He was hired by Cameron & Finn,

the cement contractors on the Ca-nadian side, and worked during thesummers of 1937 and 1938.

Mr. Truesdell obtained freshdrinking water from a spring in IvyLea and toted it around in his boat,from work area to work area, for thebuilders.

He said he climbed the piers fourtimes a day, hauling a pail full ofwater up with a rope, to oer drink-ing water to workers up on the top.

He also occasionally ran engineersaround the work site in his boat.

For his eorts he made a whop-ping $4.25 a day, a fortune to a12-year-old boy in 1937. I had lotsof money in the bank; I bought anew bicycle, and Ive never had to

ask anybody for money ever since.Ever enterprising, Mr. Truesdell

said he missed the bridge dedicationceremony on Aug. 18, 1938, becausehe was busy taking spectators forboat rides under the new bridges.

Mr. Truesdell ended up going intobusiness for himself at the age of 17;from his own construction businessthis year.

LYLE G. BONNEY

Obviously this massive construc-tion eort on what was barrenland amounted to a gigantic tracproblem.

Trucks were going every which

way through the elds, before the

connecting roads were built, saidLyle G. Bonney, Watertown.

Mr. Bonney, a retired Watertown

city police ocer, worked as a

special Jeerson County sherisdeputy during the bridge building.

It was his job to try to make someorganization out of the construction

trac, as well as provide security at

the site.

He wore a deputys uniform and

raked in a good wage of $4 a day.

Mr. Bonney used a whistle to helpdirect traca whistle that caused

problems under the blistering sum-mer sun.

I remember it being so hot, he

said. Blowing that whistle a lot my

lips got really chapped, and Id have

to put ice on them when I wenthome at night.

On the day of the bridges dedica-

tion, Mr. Bonney missed the fes-

tivities because he was stationed at

Canadian Customs to help directtrac.There were so many cars that

day; people driving back and forth,

just for the sake of going across the

bridges.

Mr. Bonney said that early on

the morning of Aug. 18 (actually inthe middle of the night), cars were

already lining up on the Canadian

side in anticipation of the bridges

opening, because everybody wanted

to be the rst one.

11


11/16


TOURI SM, from page 9

The Thousand Islands Bridge was constructud in a remarkably short 16-month period. The $3 millionproject broke ground in May, 1937 and was completed 10 weeks ahead of schedule.

PHOTO COURTESY TIBA

Customs Service, which serves as aguarantee that all cargo complieswith regulations, the values estab-lished for the freight are accurateand the duties paid are correct. The

rm has nine full-time employees.If there werent a border cross-ing, there wouldnt be a reason to behere, he explained simply.

FERRIES MADE CROSSINGThat same logic appliesappar-

entlyto the Canadian traveler.Before the bridges dedication onAug. 18, 1938, sight-seers boardedtime-consuming, motion-sickness-

inducing ferry boats to make thecrossing.No fewer than four rms provided

that service, according to ClaytonTown Supervisor Gordon D. CerowJr. Three steel ferries traveled the

route from Gananoque, Ont., toClayton: the Horne Ferry, from CapeVincent to Kingston, the CollinsLanding Ferry, and the BrainardRobbins Ferry, which connectedFishers Landing to the ThousandIslands Park on Wellesley Island.

The hassle, alone, hampered thetourist trade along the St. Lawrence,said Mr. Cerow.

John N. Russell, general managerof Bonnie Castle Resort, AlexandriaBay, recalls this mode of transporta-tion as a rather primitive deal.

CROSS-TOWN TRIPBy contrast, he said the Thousand

Islands International Bridge makes

the cross-border trek more like across-town commute, he said. Andthe resulta measurable increasein the amount of Canadian touriststraveling to the resort for dinner orplush overnight accommodations.

The bridge is a commuter bridge,it brings a big market for us, Mr.Russell said.

And its a market that wasntnearly as strong before.

Id say the bridge is responsiblefor uniting the river, said Mr. Rus-

sell. No longer is the St. Lawrence anatural boundary, dividing the twonations, but rather, a span which hesaid kind of tied it together.

The heightened cross-border traf-c is evidenced by the raw numbers.According to vehicle tallies by theThousand Islands Bridge Author-ity, by the bridges 50th anniversary,10 times the number of cars and

trucks cross the span as did when itopened 50 years ago.

In the most recent scal year,which spans from March 1, 2012, toFeb. 29, 2013, 2,078,622 commercialand passenger vehicles made thecrossing, compared to the bridges

rst full year of operation, when150,000 made that same passage.

The number of passenger vehiclesswells from May through Octoberevidence that the span is used heav-ily by vacationers. In June 2013, forexample, 200,544 cars rolled acrossthe spandouble the trac volumein February 2013.

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12/16


THE NORTH COUNTRY POET

Saturday outing turned shot of lasting fameJOHNSON NEWSPAPERS ARCHIVES

Seventy-ve years ago they werestrangers.

Two small children, plucked froma crowd of 25,000 by a newspaperphotographer, eager to get the perfectshot. Two small children whiskedacross the International Ri Bridge,concerned guardians racing behind.

Two small children whose photo-graph would appear in newspaperson both sides of the border Aug. 19,1938; a symbol of the peace and good-

will that characterized the dedicationof the Thousand Islands InternationalBridge on Aug. 18, 1938.

The two small children, Elinor FirthRowins, now 55, Kingston, Ont., andRobert C. Kernehan, now 57, Plessis,are all grown up now. But they madehistory that day, holding hands on theInternational Ri Bridge and exchang-ing Canadian and U.S. ags.

Although Mrs. Rowins was only 5

years old that day and Mr. Kernehanwas 7, both remember the event viv-idly, although neither was anywhere

near old enough to comprehend itshistorical signicance.

Mrs. Rowins was with her parents,

waiting patiently under a blister-ing sun for the motorcade carryingPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt andCanadian Prime Minister William L.Mackenzie King to pass by. Havingtraveled from Brockville, they were onthe Canadian side of the Ri Bridge.

All of the sudden this photogra-pher ran up and said, Is this a lileCanadian girl? Can I borrow her?Mrs. Rowins recalled.

He took my hand and we raceddown the road. We had to hurry be-cause (the ocial party) was coming.

A 7-year-old Mr. Kernehan was onthe other side of the Ri Bridge, wait-ing for the motorcade with his grand-parents.

All of a sudden one of the photog-raphers grabbed ahold of me and saidI want to borrow your lile boy, Mr.Kernehan remembered.

He said his grandmother wasinitially upset by the whole scenebecause she was afraid the photog-

rapher was trying to kidnap himin the crush of people. Aer someexplanations, however, Mr. Kerne-

hans grandparents consented andthe whole group ran down to theRi Bridge where Mrs. Rowins waswaiting.

They stuck a ag in my hand andstarted snapping picture, Mr. Kerne-han said. I was dumbfounded; Ididnt know what was taking place.

Not only did the photo appear innewspapers, but footage of the twochildren was featured on the Movi-

etone newsreel that was shown attheaters before the featured moviesstarted.

Although neither one remem-bers talking very much to the other,Mr. Kernehans grandparents andMrs. Rowins parents did talk. Theybecame so friendly, in fact, that theykept in touch for several years, ex-changing leers and Christmas cards.

Mrs. Rowins even remembers the

two families geing together in Alex-andria Bay one year for a picnic.

Although the two children made

and witnessed history that day, theirmost vivid memories are of the typi-cal things children would notice.

I remember the Mounties (RoyalMounted Canadian Police) all intheir red coats, lined up along theroad, Mrs. Rowins said.

Her aendance at the bridgededication, Mrs. Rowins said, wassomething to do on a Saturday; itwas a big deal going somewhere inthe car.

I knew there was a president anda prime minister and we were going

to see somebody special, but as faras the signicance to seeing a headof a country, well...

Mr. Kernehan said he was inter-ested in seeing President Roosevelt,which he did as the presidentialmotorcade passed by, but the signi-cance of the opening of the inter-national bridge was a concept thatdidnt really sink in.

It was a one shot in a lifetime

thing that happened to me, he said.I never dreamed theyd have do-ings on it 50 years later.

What do we dedicate a bridge or a bond?

A bridge dedication we celebrate this week,

But really there is more about this span we should speak.We all love our bridge, its really a bond

A bond of friendship, a lasting relation

Between beautiful Canada, and our great nation.

Were not really that dierent,

When asked what we say

We Americans say pardon, and the Canadians say ay

So remember this bridge or Portland and steel,

There is something much deeper that we all should feel.

So next time you surmount it; traveling suspended in air,

Take a moment for prayer, be thankful its there.

Its more than just saying of our bridge we are fond,

Every time you cross over, thank God for our bond.

By Lynn Buggs Davis, writen Aug. 19, 1988,

for the 50th anniversary of the bridge

Friday August 16 2013 Thousand Islands Bridge 13


13/16


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BY JAEGUN LEE

TIMES STAFF WRITER

WELLESLEY ISLAND Eva S.Hasseler was 17 and had just gradu-ated from Watertown High Schoolwhen she took part in the dedication

ceremony for the Thousand IslandsInternational Bridge in August 1938.

The now 92-year-old summerresident of Henderson Harbor said

she participated in the festivities onWellesley Island 75 years ago as amember of a foresting group thatplanted maple trees at the border to

celebrate formally the completion ofthis binational eort to connect Col-lins Landing to Ivy Lea, Ontario.

Back then, Americans planted

maple trees on the Canadian side ofthe border and Canadians planted

white birch on the U.S. side, shesaid. President Roosevelt was therein his car greeting and waving at

people and there was a party aerthat a dance and buet-type deal on the Canadian side.

The $3 million T.I. Bridge project

broke ground in May 1937 and was

completed in only 16 months, some

10 weeks ahead of schedule a re-

markable feat considering hydrau-lic excavators were not available at

the time.

Safety measures for construction

workers were practically nonexis-

tent, which probably helped speedup the project yet led to one fatal-

ity. A Mohawk tribal member from

Montreal hired as a high-beam

worker died in a fall just days before

the bridge opened.

On Aug. 18, 1938, President

Franklin D. Roosevelt and CanadianPrime Minister William L. Mack-

enzie King rolled in together in the

back seat of a customized black

Cadillac for the ribbon-cuing, an

event that drew a crowd of more

than 25,000 people to WellesleyIsland.

To celebrate the bridges 75th year

of operation, the Thousand IslandsBridge Authority will hold a public

open house Saturday featuring

a vintage car show, live music and

presentations.According to the authority, annual

crossings grew from 150,000 in the

T.I. Bridges rst year of operation to

more than 2 million vehicles today.

Ms. Hasseler said she plans to at-

tend the event with her daughters,granddaughters and great-grand-

daughters.

The free event will be held from 10

a.m. to 4 p.m. that day at the author-

ity property near the U.S. toll plaza

on Interstate 81.Historian Brian R. Phillips, of

Rockport, Ontario, and Parsons

Transportation a New York City

rm hired as the bridges consultingengineer will host a presentation

with archival images and video of

the construction project during the

event.

Performing live music at the

open house will be Brockville Pipes& Drums of Brockville, Ontario,

Fort Drums 10th Mountain Divi-

sion Band and color guard from

the Second Brigade Combat Team

and Northern New York rock band

Tough Luck.Childrens activities and refresh-

ments, such as ice cream and bever-

ages, also will be available.

Memorabilia, including commem-orative coins and postcards, will be

handed out during the event and

drawings for a pair of Thousand

Islands vacation packages, which

include a nights accommodation,

passes to a boat tour and admissionto Boldt Castle on Heart Island, will

be held as well.

Public parking is available near

the Thousand Islands welcome

center on Collins Landing Road o

Seaway Avenue, according to theTIBA.

TI Bridge to host open house SaturdayFree event includes live music, entertainment, memorabilia to commemorate 75th year

President Frankin D. Roosevelt and Canadian Prime Minister William L. Mackenzie King attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Thousand Islands Bridgeon Aug. 18, 1938. The Thousand Islands Bridge Authority is hosting a free open house on Saturday, Aug. 17 to commemorate the 75th anniversary.

WATERTOWN DAI LY TIMES AR CHIVES



16/16

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Thousand Islands Bridge: 75 years of international goodwill

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