The Ferry Road Bridge & Its Surroundings… A Brief History

The Ferry Road Bridge and Its Surroundings… A Brief History. . , This area was the site of rich Native American agricultural fields and extensive trade paths. In the 17th century and 18th centuries, Dutch colonists and other European settlers farmed here and transported their goods on those same paths. Boats and ferries traveled the Mohawk Rivers for trade and transport. Later highways and railroads followed the routes of the Native paths and colonial trails. Today the trains and river traffic are gone, but the Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail follows that same historical course. , Early Settlers and Niska Isle , Native Americans were the first people living here; a Mohawk village was located on Niska Isle. The abundant Native cornfields were a source of the area’s name- “Niskayuna” is derived from a Mohawk word meant field covered with corn. The earliest European settlers, Dutch farmers from Albany and Schenectady, arrived around 1664. In 1667, the English took control of the Dutch colony; from then until the middle and late 1700’s, English and other European immigrants settled here. Around the time of the American Revolution, a Christian religious sect, the Shakers, farmed these floodplains of the Mohawk River. They grew broomcorn, hay, oats, rye, corn, and potatoes., Roads, Ferries, Canals, and Rails , The ancient footpaths of the Native Americans traveled along the Mohawk River’s southern bank and crossed the Lisha Kill, connecting to the village of Niska Isle. This Native trail became Rosendale road. In 1790, Elbert Vischer established Vischer’s Ferry, and the road was renamed Ferry Road. Vischer’s ferry was a raft pulled across the river by suspended ropes; it carried people, carriages, and wagons across the Mohawk River until the early 20th century., In 1841, the Troy and Schenectady Railroad was built, its route following the southern bank of the Mohawk River. The original Ferry Road Bridge was built in 1914-15 when the Mohawk River was altered to create the Barge Canal. Known as the Vischer’s Ferry Road Viaduct, the steel gilder bridge crossed the Troy and Schenectady Railroad and over the swampy outlet of the Lisha Kill. The Troy and Schenectady Railroad carried passengers until 1932, and freight until 1965. The rail line was abandoned until its reuse by the Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail. The current bridge, built in 2010, replaced the one built in 1914-15., The Mohawk Hudson Bike Trail , This trail is part of the 35-mile long Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail. Established through the combined efforts of volunteers and local governments, it is part of a network of 130+miles of similar trails. Open today to hikers, cyclists, skaters, and nature lovers, this path traces a historic line once traveled by Native Americans, early pioneer merchants and traders, settlers, throughout the state and beyond, and the later routes of New York’s industries and commerce. , Inset Lower left photo: , The map above shows the Mohawk Hudson Bike-Hike Trail (red) following the old railroad line along the south of the Mohawk River, and the location of the Ferry Road Bridge (yellow). The brown lines trace the original banks of the Mohawk before the back channel of the Lisha Kill was formed by the flooding from the Barge Canal. The photo (top right) shows the original bridge before it was replaced in 2010., Inset Upper Right: , The photo above shows the original Ferry Road Bridge and Niska Isle as they appeared shortly after the bridge was built and the channel flooded. The Troy and Schenectady Railroad tracks ran below the bridge. Rope ferries (shown bottom left, circa 1909) used flat-bottomed boats to transport carriages and wagons from Niska Isle to Vischer Ferry. Trolleys like the one shown below (bottom right, circa 1920), carried passengers along the Troy and Schenectady Railroad line until 1932.