Delaware Park - Table
of Contents ..............................
Museum District - Table
of
Contents
Delaware
Park Bridge: Lincoln Parkway Bridge
Buffalo, New
York
Erected: |
1901, in time for the Pan-Am Exposition. Built by the City of Buffalo to replace a wood and iron bridge. The city also rebuilt the Casino and boathouse. See also: Highlights of Buffalo's History, 1901 |
Original name: |
Bridge
of the Three Americas (Three Nations Bridge) |
Architects: |
Green &
Wicks |
Style: |
Arch bridge. Venetian. The casino was also rebuilt in the same style. The Pan-Am featured a "Venetian lagoon," i.e., Hoyt Lake (formerly named Delaware Park Lake) which was dredged to make it suitable for canoes and, of course, gondolas. |
Ornamentation: |
Two white lions at each bridge
entrance were temporary, like all the buildings except the New York
State Building (now the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
Museum). There are 6 stone heads that function as keystones on either side of the three arches. On the side facing the Casino, the two outer heads represent Native Americans, and the middle one an idealized head representing Buffalo. On the other side, the heads represent the three doges (grand dukes) of Venice: Dandolo, Michaeli, and Morosini. |
Sources of information:
- "Bridge in Park," by Chris Andrle in the March 8, 2001 issue of Art Voice.
- "The Rainbow City," by Kerry S. Grant. Buffalo: Canisius College Press, 2001
"The German architect Karl-Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841) was also a source of inspiration for elegant urban embellishments. Surely, Green & Wicks had in mind Schinkel's beautiful Palace Bridge in Berlin of 1821 when in 1900 they designed the Lincoln Parkway Bridge in Delaware Park." - Francis R. Kowsky
C. 1900 photograph ... Photograph from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920
Pan-Am postcard showing entrance lions (removed later) ... Postcard courtesy of Jerry Maragliano
2002 Photos
Two outer heads represent Native Americans, and the middle one an idealized head representing Buffalo.
Two stone balusters ... Vitruvian scroll
Voussoirs ... Keystone detail below:
2018 Photo