"Our world of today revolves around things which at one time couldn't be done because they were supposedly beyond the limits of human endeavor...don't be afraid to dream." - Joseph B. Strauss. The foot of West Ferry Street has been significant to Buffalo's history, from its use as Native American hunting grounds, to an escape point for African slaves fleeing the American South, to the beginnings of ferry traffic across the Niagara River. It was even the proposed landing site of a "Bridge for Peace", connecting Buffalo to Fort Erie, Canada, in 1908. Constructed between 1913-14 for the Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Black Rock Lock project, the present-day heel-trunnion bridge at this site was designed by the Strauss Bascule Bridge Company of Chicago, Illinois. It replaced a previous steel swing bridge in the same location, which had been built after 1900 (with an eye to Pan-American Exposition traffic soon to come). The bridge was conveyed to the City of Buffalo in 1953 and has undergone numerous reconstructions and related maintenance through the years. Joseph Baermann Strauss, who founded his company in 1902, was born in Cincinnati, OH, invented several types of bridges and accessory parts, was Chief engineer at the Golden Gate Bridge and construction engineer for the George Washington Bridge.
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