Five stone arches carry the Main Street Bridge across the Genesee River here in Rochester, Monroe County, New York. Built in 1857, it presents five graceful segmental arches, each reaching spans of 30 to 42 feet and rising between 8 and 11.5 feet above the water. Feel the solidity beneath your feet — cut stone laid to carry traffic and time.
Before this elegant masonry was here, the first bridge at this spot was built on wooden piers in 1810–12, its roadway level with the east bank and reached by a ramp from the lower west bank. That early structure was replaced in 1824, and over the first few years of the second bridge buildings began to line the span. Because the river is not navigable at this point, a market was even constructed on the north side in 1827, its west end resting on the Front Street wall and its east end supported by the bridge’s westernmost pier.
An early directory pictured it as an open 20-foot vegetable platform and a raised platform matching the sidewalks of Buffalo and Main streets. A market once stood on the north side, resting on the Front Street wall and the bridge's westernmost pier, for you to picture.