Help Save Rochester's Hojack Swing Bridge

New Book about the Hojack Swing Bridge

The Hojack Swing Bridge Its History—and Its Future
Edited by Richard Margolis

125 pages, 10 x 10 inches, 86 photographs, maps & drawings. Edited by Richard Margolis with essays by Joanne Arany, Stuart Bolger, Mary Hamilton-Dann, Eric DeLony, Allan Isselhard, Emma Pollard Greer, Jim LaVilla-Havelin, Richard Margolis, Joni Monroe, Richard Palmer, Charles Roemer, Harold Russell, Peter Siegrist, Alan King Sloan and John Walsh.

The Hojack Swing Bridge, built by the King Bridge Company in 1905, carried trains across the Genesee River, on the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg line. It has been out of use since 1995 and the U. S. Coast Guard has ordered CSX Transportation to remove it because, they claim, it is a hazard to navigation. The bridge is the most interesting feature in the "Port of Rochester," is eligible for historic landmark status, and survived a similar threat ten years ago.

This book documents the history of the bridge, the region, and the railroads that used the bridge. Eric DeLony's essay describes the development of movable bridges, and Alan King Sloan, a descendent of the founder of the King Bridge Company, contributes an essay titled "Saving Old Bridges" that begins:

We save old lamps, old paintings, old quilts, old teapots, old cotton gins, old baseball cards, and old cars as valuable “collectables” to be admired and treasured for their artistic and historic merit. We do the same with old houses and factories, particularly if they can be “reused” for some modern purpose. But what about old bridges?

He goes on to answer that question.

There are lots of photographs, construction drawings, "stories about bridges," and a chronology that describes the campaign to save the bridge that started with Alan King Sloan's letter dated 1999. It traces the formation of the group SOB (that's "Save Our Bridge") and the sparring with various federal agencies over the future of the bridge. The book ends with possibilities for reuse.

Publication February 2012

soft cover: $39.95 (plus $3.20 sales tax and $5.00 postage); total $48.15.
hard cover: $49.95 (plus $4.00 sales tax and $5.00 postage); total $58.95.

Or send a check payable to
Richard Margolis
250 North Goodman Street
Rochester, New York 14607

Proceeds from the sale of the book will help with the effort to save the bridge!

Recent Developments

"Effort to Revive Hojack Bridge Quietly Persists"
Democrat & Chronicle, Monday, January 23, 2006.

News Update: Letter to the D&C Editor, Dated 1/24/06
News Update: 01/24/04
News Update: 04/05/03

SaveHojack.com: News, Updates & Petitions

Other bridges have been saved

The successful effort to save The Bridge of Lions can be a model for us. Both the Army Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard, as well as others, encouraged demolition but community support saved the bridge. Look at the menu on the left side - History, Letters & Documents, Comments and Links. There is a lot of useful material there.

What you can do

Write letters to the editor with a copy to the mayor. And leave the request that people help with petitions.

You can also collect signatures on our petition. Click here and print out the attached petition and collect signatures from everyone who shares our view that the bridge is important and should be saved. When a page is full make a copy that you should save and send the original to:

Richard Margolis
The Bridge Project
250 North Goodman Street
Rochester, NY 14607

Important Documents

Imagine This

Hojack Bridge Rendering - A Welcoming Port

The Hojack Swing Bridge will be a welcoming landmark as visitors enter Rochester from the North. Imagine it with lights and banners, the sound of music, and people on the observation deck on top sipping something cold, waving as the Ferry from Toronto, or the boats from other ports, pass by.

"Imagining our bridge lit up at night"

The "Flats" area in Cleveland, once home to abandoned steel mills, is now revitalized. Restaurants, new professional offices, and night life make it an exciting place that attracts people year around. The old bridges - lots of them - including a swing bridge like ours, are lit up at night, transforming them into magical sculptures. Imagine our Hojack Swing Bridge with lights that glitter off the water. It would be the centerpiece for the new Port of Rochester, welcoming visitors arriving here by boat and luring visitors to the restaurants and attractions along the Genesee River.

There are lots of possibilities for our Hojack Swing Bridge, and this is just one of them. It would be foolish to demolish it before we explored those possibilities, and then regret our decision. Do you remember the Bragdon Train Station that stood empty and was demolished about 25 years ago. Now we are talking about building anew one. Lets not repeat that mistake.