The Vischer Ferry Bridge

The Vischer Ferry Bridge. . , The residents of Clifton Park have wanted a bridge across the Mohawk River at Vischer Ferry since the town was formed in 1828. An act incorporating the Vischer's Ferry Bridge Company was passed by the State Legislature on April 19, 1828, granting the company a three-year exclusive right to erect a bridge. Evidently not enough investors could be found, for a bridge was never built., In February 1900, engineers began taking soundings for the abutments of a proposed toll bridge at Vischer Ferry. The bridge, financed locally, was 790 feet long and cost $31,845. In the spring of 1901, two sections of the bridge were swept away by river ice and as a result, the bridge was raised an additional three feet. Unfortunately the spring floods of 1902 carried the entire bridge away. The Schenectady Gazette reported that a couple courting in a buggy on the bridge made it to safety just as the bridge collapsed into the river., Once again the residents of Clifton Park petitioned the State Legislature for a new bridge, and bills were introduced every year from 1910 to 1928 for its creation, but none passed. The quest for a bridge at Vischer Ferry finally died about 1934. All that remains of the 1900-1902 bridge are its stone abutments on each side of the Mohawk and pieces of iron occasionally dredged from the River. The ferry resumed operation after the collapse of the bridge and was eventually discontinued in about 1924., Photo Captions , Top Right: Vischer Ferry Bridge under construction, 1900, Middle Right: The Vischer Ferry toll-bridge across the Mahawk River, looking north, 1901