Main Street Bridge (1889)

Would have definitely made sense prior to the founding of Canton Bridge Co., as before that WIBCo would have been THE bridge builder in Canton.

It’s a well documented thing where WIBCO was referred to as “Canton” in historic articles

Tony,

This seems to back up our thinking that the triple-barreled bridge was built in 1889 rather than 1873...also seems to agree with Art's hunch that the 1873 Main Street Bridge was relocated to Broad Street in 1889 and served there till 1965.

Interestingly, this book lists the builder of the 1873 span as the Canton Iron Bridge Co., while the "History of Hancock County, Ohio" link on this page has it as Wrought Iron Bridge Co. A period typo as Canton was not founded until 1892 perhaps? The Broad Street Bridge - if that IS indeed the old Main Street Bridge - is definitely a WIBCo. https://bridgehunter.com/oh/hancock/broad-st/

In your judgment, is this enough evidence to change the build date on the triple barreled bridge from 1873 to 1889?

Twentieth Century History of Findlay and Hancock County and Representative Citizens, by Jacob A. Kimmell, 1910, page 89 https://www.google.com/books/edition/Twentieth_Century_Histo...

Paul, I would agree that the 1889 date seems more plausible!

Magnificent portals! This bridge is amazing! Interesting that the center portals seem to be of a different design than the ones on either side.

For the record, I note that the information about the 1873 span in the book "History of Hancock County" does not seem to match this bridge as far as the roadway characteristics go (i.e. it indicates one roadway and two sidewalks). Art suggested in his discussion of a bridge just downstream https://bridgehunter.com/oh/hancock/broad-st/ that 1889 might be a more appropriate date for the triple-barreled bridge based on some information he thought might be erroneous about the other bridge. Additionally, I remember reading a newspaper article in the Courier a while back (which, unfortunately, I cannot find now), which stated that the 1873 bridge was replaced in 1889 by a wider bridge capable of carrying streetcars.