The Wooden Bridge
Leslie T. Richardson- Memories & Other Stories
Three bridges spanned the Grand River at Caledonia. The first one was surveyed around 1835 but not built until 1842-43. It was built by a private company called The Hamilton and Port Dover Road Company and was constructed to carry the traffic across the river on the Plank Road which joined Lake Erie and Ontario. Trade into the Village followed the building of the road as both Seneca and Oneida Townships were rapidly settled and all the farmers needed basic equipment which the stores and mills in Caledonia were able to supply.
The southside (Brooklyn, named because the bridge joined New York to Brooklyn had just been built in the States) of Caledonia grew rapidly at this time, with at least three grocery stores, two mill outlets, besides the very vital blacksmith shops. Two hotels were necessary to supply the needs of the "carriage" trade (The mansion House and the Haldimand House).
Caledonia grew rapidly but Seneca Village decreased in population, the reason being two fold: 1. when the inhabitants heard that the road could possibly be built through their community (a logical assumption) the price of land rose rapidly. 2. Ranald McKinnon, who was influential at that time wanted it up near his establishments. He had built many houses around his business in the West end and hoped that the bridge would serve his workers. The Government compromised and built it between the two factions and bought the land cheaper. (Politics in those days was rife!)
Trade was drawn towards the bridge where the boats and wagons were able to be unloaded.
I can remember two stores on the southside (The Misses Lang, and the Kennedy-later Aldridge and Avery, and still later Dick Taggard's), both had landing ramps from the river. Both buildings, disappeared; one by fire, said to be lit on purpose as the old building blocked the view from the new High School; and the second was eventually torn down, as the ice had broken the stone foundation and the building became a hazard.
The first bridge was a wooden structure, reinforced by steel plates. It had six spans, one of which was a swing section which allowed the river traffic to pass through. It was one chain in width (a standard measurement for bridges in those days).
The river traffic was mainly scows shipping squared timber and sawed lumber through to buffalo and thence down the Erie Canal, some of it found markets in Europe. The pine was beautiful material and one hundred years later when some of these logs were dug out of the river and sawn up they were as good as the day they were cut.
River trade became obsolete when the faster trains were put into operation and the two steamboats, the Caledonia and the Dover, that passed up and down the river for years ceased to operate (Corliss Pages 34 and 35).
To operate the swing bridge men were hired by the Hamilton and Port Dover Road Company. They also collected tolls. In 1847 Mr. John Davidson (relative to the MacGreggors and Jones) was the keeper of the Caledonia bridge for which he received a salary of thirty pounds.
The tolls on the Caledonia bridge were set as follows: Wagon, four horses, 1 shilling; Wagon, two horses, 6 pence; Wagon, one horse, 4 pence; saddle horse, rider, 2 pence; cart, wagon, two oxen, 3 pence; each extra yolk of oxen 2 pence; cow etc., one half pence; horse, 1 pence; sheep, one quarter pence; by foot, 1 pence.
The tolls, also accounted for some of the growth on the southside. It prospered when the tolls were on, but declined after they were lifted in 1874.
My home, Haldimand House, profited by these tolls as people would leave their horse in the hotel barn or drive shed and would walk across the bridge for one penny a trip. The hotel would board a horse all day for 5 pence (10 cents) and this would include hay,a quart of oats and occasionally a rub down.
