On this day in 1934, the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo changed ownership

Niagara | History |

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Published May 3, 2022 at 12:28 pm

(Photo: Frank Gunn, CP)

At one point, Canada had no stake whatsoever in the Peace Bridge that connects Fort Erie and Buffalo.

In its humble beginning when it opened to cross border traffic between the two cities on June 1, 1927, it was owned by a consortium of American and Canadian businessmen, lead by Frank B. Baird, an American steelmaker. To this day, many on the both sides still regard Baird as the “father of the bridge.”

Each contributed $2,000, and Buffalo banks underwrote the initial $4.5 million bond issue sold to build the span.

That was normal business in 1927. The builders’ plan was to collect tolls to run the bridge and eventually repay the bonds, and then to turn over the operation of a self-sufficient span to Canada and New York.

However, no one at that time knew the Great Depression was just two years away. The first thing it hurt was the traffic flow, which, of course, paid the tolls.

And it only got worse for the investors and the banks. By May 3, 1934, with fear of bankruptcy looming for most, the Canadian and American governments had to step in and assume control of the bridge – its ownership now changing from private to public.

It has remained that way since then under a government-appointed commission, first run by six Americans and three Canadians but now run by five from each side, who meet monthly.

So while it took until 1934 for the governments to step in, it’s not like they had no part of the original plan to build the bridge. It was initially approved for construction by the International Joint Commission, which is a bi-national organization established by the governments of the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.

That means simply if anything is to be built over border waters between the two nations, it has to be approved by the commission.

While the originally approved in 1925 by the commission, it took two years to build simply because of the Niagara River’s strong current. Construction was finished in the Spring of 1927 and the first car to cross belonged to Edward Lupfer, the chief engineer of the bridge.

And the name Peace Bridge? That was chosen to mark 100 years of peace between the two countries following the end of the War of 1812.

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