Cuyahoga Jack-Knife Bridge #464

The oldest of eight historic bridges that line Cleveland's Cuyahoga River, this 1907 bridge serves as a reminder of the centrality of railroads and manufacturing in the city and region's history. Constructed for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, today this rolling lift bridge is covered in rust and flora after years of nature reclaiming the disused structure. The bridge design offered flexibility as the counterweights were designed to aid lifting and closing as needed to facilitate rail traffic above the river while opening to allow tall ships to pass. The eight remaining bridge structures were recognized in 1996 for the city's bicentennial.

Cleveland's economy in the early twentieth century was built around shipping, with the city's railroad connections proving essential to manufacturing. The city was dotted by numerous steel rails that carried coal, iron ore, and other materials from area mines to be refined at factories. Rail bridges crossed the city's rivers; one such bridge was the Cuyahoga Jack-Knife Bridge #464. Built in 1907, the bridge is one of a handful from that era that is still standing, although rusty and covered in vines.

This bridge, commonly called "Number 1" by locals, is a Scherzer bridge, a reference to Chicago engineer William Scherzer, the designer of this kind of rolling lift bridge. It's also believed to be the longest bridge of this type. When it was still operational it carried trains from the Baltimore and Ohio company, a line running across the northeast states from Pennsylvania to Illinois.

#464 was one of eight Cuyahoga River bridges commemorated in 1996 for being iconic reminders of Cleveland's past as a manufacturing giant. This one is the oldest of the eight; for comparison, No. 2, the closest one, was built nearly fifty years after this one. In honor of Cleveland's bicentennial, these eight bridges were lit up in different colors to make locals appreciate their pasts and their possibilities for the future. As part of this project, the city of Cleveland vowed to keep the bridges illuminated for the next hundred years. Ten years later, most were no longer illuminated, but by 2012, seven of the eight bridges, including this one, once again had functional lighting.

Cuyahoga Jack-Knife Bridge #464, Atlas Obscura. Accessed February 10th, 2023. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cuyahoga-jack-knife-bridge-464.

Schneider, Ed. THE BRIDGES OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Washington Post. February 11th, 1996. Accessed February 10th, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/1996/02/11/the-bridges-of-cuyahoga-county/d930c230-3fa5-4201-bac5-6119092983ca/.

Feran, Tom. Cleveland's bicentennial project to light Flats bridges: Whatever happened to ...?, Cleveland.com. June 25th, 2012. Accessed February 10th, 2023. https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2012/06/clevelands_bicentennial_projec.html.

Bona, Marc. Bridges of the Crooked River: Bascule Bridges 1 and 2 (photos, videos), Cleveland.com. November 24th, 2015. Accessed February 10th, 2023. Bridges of the Crooked River: Bascule Bridges 1 and 2 (photos, videos).