Collision Bend is that bend in the Cuyahoga River south of the Terminal Tower complex and down the hill to the west of the ballparks on Ontario. W. 3rd and Canal are main roads on the east bank and Scranton and Carter Roads are main roads on the west bank.
Many Clevelanders still remember Jim’s Steak House that was a feature at Collision Bend for decades. The 7th novel in Les Roberts’ Milan Jacovich series is entitled Collision Bend and there is a local brewery by that name. This part of the Flats was once a very important commercial area in Cleveland. However, it is a ghost town today.
This area took its name from the boat collisions that were frequent at this tight turn in the natural riverbed. But round about 1939 the Cuyahoga was widened to remove a large portion of land, creating the vast pool of water seen today. There were once two important bridges that connected both banks of Collision Bend wiith each other and with Downtown. But they have long since been removed and have passed out of living memory of Clevelanders.
Imagine that once upon a time, one could drive (or ride a horse) down Seneca Street (W. 3rd) at Lakeside Ave, cross through the present site of the Terminal Tower, down the hill to cross the river twice, and again after another half-mile, and pass Tremont down to the steel mills.
In its natural state, the Cuyahoga was probably like Rocky River or the Chagrin, narrow and shallow, prone to sand bars and silting. In the era of Moses Cleaveland, one could walk across the sand bar at the mouth of the Cuyahoga. Over the years it has been widened and dredged to accomodate freighter traffic.
Collision Bend was a hairpin turn along the Cuyahoga where ships frequently collided with each other and probably the riverbank. But in about 1939 Collision Bend was widened to its present dimensions.
In the image above, the map on the left is from 1881 and on the right is a modern Google map aerial view.
The aerial image above shows Collision Bend to the south of Public Square, round about 1920. The Hotel Cleveland (now the Renaissance Hotel) is on Public Square but excavation and construction has not yet commenced on the Terminal Tower complex.
Note the two bridges at Collision Bend, which connect Scranton and Carter with Canal Road and W. 3rd St. on the east bank. The one in the foreground, connecting Canal Rd, is called “the old Carter Road Bridge” in some sources (link below) but other sources seem to call it “the Seneca Street Bridge.” The other bridge connecting W. 3rd is also called “the Seneca Street Bridge” in some sources. I will edit if someone can provide an authoritative source. (I believe this image is from the Terminal Tower archives.) For more info, see the Bridgehunter site.
Here’s a more recent view of Collision Bend, after the 1939 excavation, probably from the 60s judging from the evident water quality. The Eagle Street Lift Bridge has replaced the previous Seneca Street Bridge.
(I believe this was from the Cleveland Memory Project.)
An amazing in-progress shot of the excavation of Collision Bend, probably at least a couple acres of land. The old bridges are gone and the Eagle Street Lift Bridge is already open for traffic. Note the location of Fire Station 21, which has long since been the home of the fire tug Anthony J. Celebrezze.
(This image was from the Cleveland Memory Project with a date of 1941.)
This remarkable pic shows Fire Station 21, constructed in 1923, being moved in 1939 from its original location to its new location to accommodate the widening of Collision Bend.
(This pic was originally shared by digital curator John Skrtic )
SECRETS OF COLLISION BEND – PART II
As explained above, Collision Bend had been a hairpin turn in the Cuyahoga that was tricky for boat navigation. In about 1939, excavation began on a large section of land at Collision Bend, creating the vast open pool of water evident in that area today, south of the Terminal Tower and visible from Canal Road and the food court at Tower City.
This modification in the river has no doubt greatly facilitated freighter traffic on the Cuyahoga. However, in the process, two bridges were removed that connected the east and west banks of the Cuyahoga. Apparently these bridges had stood at these crossings for at least 80 years, since the Canal Era of the 1850s. These old crossings were replaced by the new Eagle Street Lift Bridge (now closed but still standing) and the new Carter Road Bridge located a short distance downriver, still operational today.
The former bridges included a Northern Crossing that connected Carter and Scranton Roads with Canal Road and Seneca Street (now W. 3rd, which was truncated in the 1920s by the Terminal Tower complex) and a Southern Crossing to the east that connected Carter and Scranton Roads with a road alternately named Seneca Street, Central Way, and (since 1906) W. 3rd. The names of the bridges of these crossings appear to have either changed with time and/or with replacement, and the readily available online sources appear to conflict. For convenience, we’ll generally refer to the Northern Crossing and the Southern Crossing.
The above map is the portion of the 1858 map showing Collision Bend. The road approaching the Northern Crossing from the south is called “Lorain Street,” into which Scranton dead-ended. The road approaching the Southern Crossing fron the south is “Central Way.” The Northern Crossing also crosses over the Ohio & Erie Canal, which was then in its heyday in Cleveland. I have another map in a book from 1853 which shows only the Northern Crossing, indicating that the Southern Crossing had been added shortly afterwards. Lorain Street is labeled on that map as the road to Carlisle and Elyria, which is still the route of OH 10 to this day.
To interact with a dated series of superimposed Cleveland maps, visit the very useful and informative Cleveland Historic Maps site.
This image above is called “the Seneca Street Bridge” from 1870, covering the Northern Crossing. Note how narrow the Cuyahoga is 150 years ago compared to its current width today. Also note the Ohio & Erie Canal off to the right, next to “Canal Street” (hence the name). The bridges at this crossing all appeared to have a swing bridge mounted on a center pier in the riverbed, similar to the Superior Viaduct and the Central Viaduct which were built later. They also included a bridge over the canal and later, the train tracks that were laid on top the canal bed later in this decade. Note the stone in the pier, supports and abutment, presumably locally quarried Berea sandstone. Source: the Bridgehunter site.
Here’s a view of the Collision Bend from 1927, when excavation for the Terminal Tower Complex was already underway. The bridge over the Northern Crossing appears to be called “the Old Carter Road Bridge.” This pic shows a side view of a double truss bridge mounted on the central pier in the Cuyahoga.
(I believe this image is from the Cleveland Memory Project site.)
An excellent side view of the “W. 3rd Bridge” at the Northern Crossing off Canal Road, probably from the late 1920s. The double truss swing bridge portion and the plate girder portion are readily visible, as are the stone supports. The B&O Terminal and the Detroit-Superior Bridge are visible off in the distance.
(Cleveland Memory Project site.)
Another view of “the Old Carter Road Bridge” over the Northern Crossing. This view includes the Eagle Street Lift Bridge, indicating the image is from the late 1930s, before the excavation of Collision Bend.
Source: the Bridgehunter site.
There was a collapse of the portion of the bridge crossing over the railroad tracks on the Northern Crossing. It would seem that the streetcars were too heavy for the bridge. Note the indigenous Berea sandstone abument on the far left, this comes up again later.
(This pic was originally shared by digital curator John Skrtic)
As reported by Occhialoni Paesano on Facebook: “The West 3rd bridge collapse occurred in 1916 when a streetcar lost its brakes and careened downhill hitting a horse-drawn wagon which derailed the streetcar which then hit one of the bridge supports and brought the whole thing down.”
This is the 1927 map as posted at the “Cleveland Historic Maps” site. The map appears to be modied to generally indicate the portion of Collision Bend removed in the 1939 excavation project, with the Northern and Southern Crossings shown in phantom. Note the encircled wedge-shaped abutment of the Northern Crossing.
The above aerial view looking south shows the Northern Crossing over the railyards and across the stone pier. Note the wedge-shaped abument and how the road is angled to direct traffic up Seneca Street (W. 3rd) and into Downtown, crossing through the future site of the Terminal Tower Complex.
(Not sure of the source, might be the Cleveland Memory Project)
This fine photo shows paving operations being done at Canal Road and W. 3rd, right at the end of the Northern Crossing, showing a wrought iron bridge on the wedge-shaped abutment. This was probably the last time Canal Road was paved!
(Cleveland Memory Project)
This zoomed-in view shows the wedge-shaped abument depicted in the 1927 compared to the Google map view of today where the former railyard is now the Riverview Parking lot behind Tower City and next to the Sherwin Williams facility. That same wedge-shaped abumtent is still visible today as a remnant of the Northern Crossing, pointed out in the direction of open water as a “bridge to nowhere.”
Here we see that vintage sandstone abutment of the Northern Crossing, as seen in 2020, yet another fine old remnant of Cleveland history hiding in plain sight, at the bottom of the hill just past the ticket booth for the Riverview Parking lot. Compare this view to the same abutment shown in the bridge collapse pic.
A north facing view of the abutment of the Northern Crossing, looking upward at more familiar sights on street layers above. What a grand old ruin of 19th century indigenous sandstone, pitted with bore holes from the quarrying operation like other vintage specimens around Cleveland.
A better view of the 19th century abutment. I’m wondering if this is the same abutment used to support the old Seneca Street Bridge in the 1870 pic, or maybe even whatever older bridge might have been in place before that?
The top of the abutment, the wedge-shape evident, as seen looking through the fence along Canal Road across over the expansive waters of Collision Bend, with the Eagle Street Lift Bridge and the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge off in the distance.
SECRETS OF COLLISION BEND – PART III
As mentioned previously, Collision Bend is the bend in the Cuyahoga behind (south of) the Terminal Tower, along Canal Road. For about 80 years, starting in the 1850s, there had been several bridges over two crossings at Collision Bend, named after the street names which changed several times. For clarity, I referred to them as the Northern Crossing and the Southern Crossing. That part of the river had been widened in about 1939 to accommodate the large freighters. The bridges at these crossings were removed by the river widening and replaced by the Eagle Street Lift Bridge (now closed but still standing) and the Carter Road Lift Bridge slightly downriver (still in service).
The Northern Crossing connected W. 3rd (Seneca Street) and Canal Road, through the present Terminal Tower site, to Carter and Scranton Roads on the west bank, on what is today called the Scranton Peninsula. The Southern Crossing connected Carter and Scranton with “Central Way” (now W. 3rd) on the east bank, which still continues down along Tremont to the steel mills.
The 1881 map showing the Northern and Southern Crossings at Collision Bend. (Screencapped from the Cleveland Historic Maps site.)
The bridge at the Southern Crossing, from Carter/Scranton to W. 3rd. A double bascule bridge (i.e., two drawbridges) and made of wood. Note how narrow the Cuyahoga was at this time., before the widening. The Eagle Street Lift Bridge and Lorain-Carnegie Bridge are in the background, dating this scene in the 1930s.
(I believe this was from the Bridgehunter site.)
Aerial view showing a freighter passing underneath the double drawbridge. The ramp for the Eagle St. bridge is under construction. Note the cluster of smokestakes at the stream plant, remarked about in other posts. (I believe this was from the Cleveland Memory Project site.)
Awesome view of a freighter passing through the Southern Crossing with the Eagle bridge up and the Ohio Bell Building in the background.
(I believe this was from the Bridgehunter site.)
W. 3rd at Stone’s Levee Road in 1927, looking north to the Terminal Tower, under construction. Note the ramp of Stones Levee, still there today. You can see the double bascule bridge at the Southern Crossing.
(Cleveland Memory Project)
W. 3rd at Stone’s Levee today, looking onto the ramp for the latter street, Progressive Field in the background.
The former site of W. 3rd St today, at the end of the portion excavated after the Southern Crossing was removed.
Looking across the wide expanse of modern-day Collision Bend toward Fire Station No. 21, at Scranton and the foot of the Eagle Street Lift Bridge.
The Eagle Street Lift Bridge today, a forlorn hulk and a reminder of bygone days in Cleveland.
The west end of the Stone’s Levee Bridge. I used to go out of my way to drive over this fine relic when it was still open to vehicle traffic.
The east end of the Stone’s Levee Bridge, the Eagle bridge beyond.
Underneath the Stone’s Levee Bridge. What a name. Anyone know the story of how that street came by that name? Accoridng to the map site, it had that name as far back as 1858. Perhaps named after railroad magnate Amasa Stone, who first ran rails into Cleveland in the 1850s?