The first crossing was made on November 24, 1859, when the first to cross were Vice President Holmes, Hon. George Etienne Cartier, James Hodges, A. M. Ross, Walter Shanly, Messrs. Gzowski, Macpherson, Forsyth, Captain Rhodes and others. The last stone was laid and the last rivet driven on August 25, 1860, by the young Prince of Wales, afterward King Edward VII. On the occasion a grand banquet was held near the bridge, at which addresses were given by the Prince, the Duke of Newcastle, Mr. A.M. Ross, Mr. Hodges and others. To commemorate the event Mr. Blackwell had a medal prepared by the chief engineer of Her Majesty’s seals, a gold one of which was presented to the Prince and a bronze one to each of the officers of the Grand Trunk Railway.
It bears a fine impression in relief of the Prince as he then was, and the words, “Welcome Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Visited Canada and inaugurated the Victoria Bridge, 1860.”
The first train with passengers traversed the bridge December 17, 1859.
This structure was 9,184 feet long, of twenty-three spans of 242 feet and one in the center of 330 feet.
Sir George Etienne Cartier, before being knighted, was asked by Queen Victoria at Windsor, “Mr. Cartier, I hear that the Bridge at Montreal is a very fine structure. How many feet is it from shore to shore?”
The reply was pleasing to Her Majesty. “When we Canadians build a bridge and dedicate it to Your Majesty we measure it, not in feet, but in miles!”
The difficulties connected with the building of the bridge were greater than they would be today. The facilities and the machinery necessary were comparatively crude and inadequate. The bridge itself was in the nature of an experiment; nor was it designed in the original plan, for a tubular bridge. The plans were altered several times during the progress of the work. It needed the genius of George Stephenson, which had to be invoked, to make the plan realizable.
But when the bridge was completed, it was almost instantly seen what a boon it was to the whole country. Trade began to pick up. Population increased. The Grand Trunk was extended. Towns began to grow, and this great enterprise, brought to a successful conclusion, encouraged other enterprises to follow.
It may be said that the building of the bridge brought out the first of the British immigrants. Here and there, there might have been a few, but the bridge opened up such possibilities of expansion as encouraged people to come out, and especially skilled men, who began to settle in the neighborhood of Point St. Charles, forming the nucleus of that population which, today, preserves the sturdy characteristics of the men who founded what was then a distinct colony. The building of the bridge meant the extension of the Grand Trunk shops, the giving of increased employment, and the setting up of a big town on the other side of the canal.
Before many years the growth of traffic called for the replacement of this dark tubular bridge by the present openwork steel bridge, with double tracks, carriage ways and foot walks which now stand on the piers which held the old bridge. The Royal Victoria Jubilee Bridge was opened for traffic on December 13, 1908.