Black's Bridge has ferried Montrealers over the Lachine Canal from Common Street to Mill for over 160 years, bringing people up from the bustling, ancient portside world of Old Montreal through the bones of industry to the Victoria Bridge.Black's Bridge rose and fell for ships during the lengthy era when the Lachine Canal offered an aquatic detour around the ferocious waters of the Lachine Rapids.
Philorome Groux and other gatemen would raise the drawbridge whenever a ship came through, leading to a compelling sight to onlookers, but also forcing a frustrating delay to the many who sought to cross by foot, horse, motor vehicle or tram.
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Black's Bridge still spans at the same spot but has been stripped of its drawbridge technology, its black metal structure, as well as its magnificent heritage, purpose and history.
It now just sits there modern and anonymous and unmarked like any other nameless modern stretch of road.
Almost nobody knows its name or its contribution as a place of drama and an important transportation hub.**
Black's Bridge was named after, well, we're not sure who, but it was surely someone named Black, as newspaper articles consistently employ the name from at least 1857.
French officials referred to it as Pont Noir, as indicated by a bilingual sign on the bridge in the 1960s.
Countless deaths, drownings and drama took place around the span, including one which saw an unidentified, respectably-attired woman aged about 40, found frozen to death behind one of the piers on 30 December 1859.
Ann Dawson perished after falling drunk off the bridge in May 1879 as did many others. (See below for more events).
Travelers relied heavily on Black's Bridge until the 1960s as it offered an important method of getting to the Victoria Bridge, which long served as the only span over the St. Lawrence. It became less essential for that journey after 1967 when the Bonaventure Expressway opened.
The first thing one saw crossing south on Black's Bridge was the eye-catching home of Thomas McCord, who owned much of Griffintown. Stone walls still stand where the was.
Further down Mill stood a hotel, a horse market and a baseball field, where some of Montreal's earliest games were played. Buffalo Bill performed at the field on Mill on a visit to Montreal. (More details about Mill Street in my absolutely-must-read Montreal 375 Tales).Mill ends at Bridge Street near the small, hardscrabble Irish neighbourhood of Goose Village, demolished in 1964.
Black's Bridge connected two worlds, one booming with commerce and rowdy sailors and the other housing a tight-knit neighbourhood of hardworking, hard-drinking labourer families.
The bridge remains an essential part of Old Montreal history and needs needs to be recognized by a plaque. Ideally it should also some of architectural elements restored to denote its longtime identity as an important component of Old Montreal.
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Black's Bridge in history
-Norwegian Richard Jensen, 21, fell off the Duxe in the new basin across from Black's Bridge and was found dead. 30 June 1879
-Unidentified man in his thirties found floating in the water beneath the bridge 5 June 1880
-Several barges collided, leaving massive damage, to the ships and their contents, three were believed to have to be strapped. 1 June 1880-Patrick Monaghan, 21, carter, charged with assaulting guardian at Black's Bridge. - 31 August 1880
-Coal dealer John Costigan found floating dead near the bridge - 13 Oct 1881
-Marie Lamontagne, 36, respectably-attired, attempted suicide by tossing herself off the bridge into the water.
. -Elizabeth McHugh, 60, Martin McHugh, 16, arrested stealing coal near the bridge - 21 July 1886 - \
-Man named Hickey suffered severe injuries when gored by an ox while crossing the bridge. - 14 June 1887
-Joseph Lebadeau's body was found in two halves floating in the water at Black's Bridge. The corpse was connected only by his pants. He had been suicidal and had been missing for three weeks. -24 Dec. 1894
-Gateman Philorome Groulx, 70, of 671 Desmarchais, collapsed and died at the bridge while at work. He worked the bridge from 1916-1934- 29 Aug 1934
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| June 1955 |
-Night squad police interrupted a midnight meal to apprehend a pair of youths on Black Bridge who had stolen 11 bags of sugar and attempted to flee in a stolen horse and buggy. - 14 Jan 1943.
-Edouard Aubin, 28, died after a streetcar detailed at Black's Bridge - 27 April 1944
Arthur Sanbhoy, 48, of 144 Murray drowned after his car crashed through the barrier at the north side of Black Bridge into the Lachine Canal - 25 Oct. 1944.
-Nick Goy, 51, drowned after cfalling into the water off Black's Bridge - 23 April 1948
-A woman, 33, tossed her 10 month old daughter into the water near Black's Bridge and then divd in after her. All were saved. - 26 June 1953.
-Truck driver Hubert Morrissette, 24, killed a Lewis William Muir, 48, of Verdun in an accident in and was charged with manslaughter. - Jan 1953